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Webster, Noah

(Encyclopedia)Webster, Noah, 1758–1843, American lexicographer and philologist, b. West Hartford, Conn., grad. Yale, 1778. After serving in the American Revolution, Webster practiced law in Hartford. His Grammati...

Char, René

(Encyclopedia)Char, René rənāˈ chärˈ [key], 1907–88, French poet. His writing reflects both his Provençal origins and his years of active participation in the French resistance. At first attracted to surre...

Norwich University

(Encyclopedia)Norwich University, at Northfield and Montpelier, Vt.; coeducational; founded 1819 as a private military college, opened 1820 at Norwich, Vt.; chartered under present name 1834, moved to Northfield 18...

lexicography

(Encyclopedia)lexicography, the applied study of the meaning, evolution, and function of the vocabulary units of a language for the purpose of compilation in book form—in short, the process of dictionary making. ...

Mingrelia

(Encyclopedia)Mingrelia mĭn-grēˈlēə [key], lowland region, W Georgia, bordering the Black Sea. Tea and grapes are the chief products. Poti is the main port. The Colchis of the ancients, Mingrelia was a vassal ...

Lope de Rueda

(Encyclopedia)Lope de Rueda lōˈpā dā ro͞oāˈᵺä [key], 1510?–1565, Spanish dramatist. A precursor of the Golden Age of Spanish literature, Rueda was an actor and a manager as well as a playwright. He is s...

Babel

(Encyclopedia)Babel bāˈbəl [key] [Heb.,=confused], in the Bible, place where Noah's descendants (who spoke one language) tried to build a tower reaching up to heaven to make a name for themselves. For this presu...

Walpi

(Encyclopedia)Walpi wälˈpē [key] [Hopi,=place of the gap], pueblo, NE Ariz., on a mesa NE of Flagstaff; founded c.1700. Its inhabitants are Pueblo who speak the Hopi language (Uto-Aztecan linguistic family). One...

Bessenyei, György

(Encyclopedia)Bessenyei, György dyörˈdyə bĕˈshĕnyā [key], 1747–1811, Hungarian dramatist and writer. In Vienna he came in contact with French rationalism and was an ardent follower of Voltaire and the Enc...

Tillamook

(Encyclopedia)Tillamook, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Salishan branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 19th cent. they lived on Tilla...