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Solomon's-seal

(Encyclopedia)Solomon's-seal, any plant of the genus Polygonatum, north-temperate perennial herbs of the family Liliaceae (lily family). The hairy Solomon's-seal (P. pubescens) and the smooth Solomon's-seal (P. bif...

Bogan, Louise

(Encyclopedia)Bogan, Louise bōˈgən [key], 1897–1970, American poet and critic, b. Livermore, Maine. She spent much of her life in New York City and was for many years poetry editor for the New Yorker. Her vers...

Zoshchenko, Mikhail Mikhailovich

(Encyclopedia)Zoshchenko, Mikhail Mikhailovich mēkhəyēl mēkhīˈləvĭch zôˈshchənkô [key], 1895–1958, Soviet humorist. Zoshchenko was born in Poltava, but spent most of his life in St. Petersburg where h...

Sennar

(Encyclopedia)Sennar – [key], town, SE Sudan, on the Blue Nile. It was the capital of the Muslim kingdom of Sennar, traditionally known as the “Black Sultanate,” which was founded in the 16th cent. Under its ...

pompano

(Encyclopedia)pompano pŏmˈpənō [key], common name for fishes of the genus Trachinotus, members of a large and important family (Carangidae) of mackerellike fishes, abundant in warm seas around the world. They h...

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...

diamond

(Encyclopedia)diamond, mineral, one of two crystalline forms of the element carbon (see allotropy), the hardest natural substance known, used as a gem and in industry. The discoveries of 1870–71 in South Africa...

dolphin, fish

(Encyclopedia)dolphin, large, swift game fish, Coryphaena hippurus, also called dorado. It is of nearly worldwide distribution in warm waters. Its long, slender body is blue, and in the living animal there are lumi...

Davis, Miles

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Miles, 1926–91, American jazz musician, b. Alton, Ill. Rising to prominence with the birth of modern jazz in the mid-1940s, when he was a sideman in Charlie Parker's bop quintet, Davis became...

hyssop

(Encyclopedia)hyssop hĭsˈəp [key], aromatic, perennial, somewhat woody herb (Hyssopus officinalis) of the family Labiatae (mint family), native to the Old World but partially naturalized in North America. The pl...