Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

subsidy

(Encyclopedia)subsidy, financial assistance granted by a government or philanthropic foundation to a person or association for the purpose of promoting an enterprise considered beneficial to the public welfare. Sub...

soap plant

(Encyclopedia)soap plant, any of various plants having cleansing properties. A few are of commercial importance, but most soap plants are used locally, as in early times, for toilet and laundry purposes. The soapba...

salmonellosis

(Encyclopedia)salmonellosis sălˌmənĕlōˈsĭs [key], any of a group of infectious diseases caused by intestinal bacteria of the genus Salmonella, including typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, blood poisoning, and...

signing statement

(Encyclopedia)signing statement, written comment issued by the executive of a government when signing a bill into law. In the United States, such statements have traditionally been comparatively neutral declaration...

truffle

(Encyclopedia)truffle trŭfˈəl [key] [Fr.], subterranean edible fungus that forms a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship with the roots of certain trees and plants. The part of the fungus used as food is ...

patent

(Encyclopedia)patent, in law, governmental grant of some privilege, property, or authority. Today patent refers to the granting to the inventor of a useful product or process the privilege to exclude others from ma...

testosterone

(Encyclopedia)CE5 testosterone tĕstŏsˈtərōn [key], principal androgen, or male sex hormone. One of the group of compounds known as anabolic steroids, testosterone is secreted by the testes (see testis) but ...

León, region and former kingdom, Spain

(Encyclopedia)León lā-ōnˈ [key], historic region and former kingdom, NW Spain, E of Portugal and Galicia, now part of Castile–León. It includes the provinces of León, Salamanca, and Zamora, named after thei...

Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

(Encyclopedia)Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act: see Landrum-Griffin Act. ...

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, S Alaska. Located across Cook Inlet from Anchorage, the park (2,619,733 acres/1,060,621 hectares) and adjacent preserve (1,410,325 acres/570,982 hectares) featur...