Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

pentameter

(Encyclopedia)pentameter pĕntămˈətər [key] [Gr.,=measure of five], in prosody, a line to be scanned in five feet (see versification). The third line of Thomas Nashe's “Spring” is in pentameter: “Cold dot...

Rolph, John

(Encyclopedia)Rolph, John rŏlf [key], 1793–1870, Canadian physician and politician, b. England. He studied law and medicine in England and served in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada (1824–30, 1836–37...

Zhelev, Zhelyu Mitev

(Encyclopedia)Zhelev, Zhelyu Mitev, 1935–2015, Bulgarian political leader. Initially a member of the Communist party, he was disciplined for his dissident political views and expelled from the party in 1965. Late...

Diori, Hamani

(Encyclopedia)Diori, Hamani, 1916–89, Nigerien political leader. A teacher in Niger and Paris, and then a school headmaster in Niamey, Niger, he helped found (1946) the Niger Progressive party (PPN). After servin...

agora

(Encyclopedia)agora ăgˈərə [key] [Gr.,=market], in ancient Greece, the public square or marketplace of a city. In early Greek history the agora was primarily used as a place for public assembly; later it functi...

Zaev, Zoran

(Encyclopedia)Zaev, Zoran, 1976–, Macedonian political leader. An economist, he joined the center-left Social Democratic Union of Macedonia in 1996. Zaev was a member of Macedonia's Assembly (2003–5), then mayo...

Pleven, René

(Encyclopedia)Pleven, René rənāˈ plĕväNˈ [key], 1901–93, French political leader. He held various diplomatic and financial posts in the Free French government during World War II and served (1944–46) as ...

Villaraigosa, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Villaraigosa, Antonio vēˌyärīgōˈsä [key], 1953–, American politician, b. Los Angeles as Antonio Villar; he changed his name in 1987 when he married Corina Raigosa. A liberal Democrat and labo...

Frederick William IV

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William IV, 1795–1861, king of Prussia (1840–61), son and successor of Frederick William III. A romanticist and a mystic, he conceived vague schemes of reform based on a revival of the m...

racquets

(Encyclopedia)racquets, game played by two or four persons on a court 60 by 30 ft (18.3 m by 9.1 m); it is surrounded by three walls 30 ft (9.1 m) high and a backwall 15 ft (4.6 m) high. The ball, 1 in. (2.54 cm) i...