Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

time , in music

(Encyclopedia)time, in music: see tempo; meter; rhythm; syncopation; metronome and musical notation. ...

timothy , in botany

(Encyclopedia)timothy or herd's-grass, perennial plant (Phleum pratense) of the family Poaceae (grass family), native to Europe and W Asia and one of the most widely cultivated hay grass of North America. Adaptable...

Titan , in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Titan tīˈtən [key], in astronomy, the largest of the named moons, or natural satellites, of Saturn. Also known as Saturn VI (or S6), Titan is 3,200 mi (5,150 km) in diameter, orbits Saturn at a mea...

transcendentalism , in philosophy

(Encyclopedia)transcendentalism, in philosophy, term descriptive of systems that hold that there are modes of being and principles of existence beyond the reach of mundane experience and manipulation. The term is n...

triangle , in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)triangle, in mathematics, plane figure bounded by three straight lines, the sides, which intersect at three points called the vertices. Any one of the sides may be considered the base of the triangle....

triangle , in music

(Encyclopedia)triangle, in music, percussion instrument consisting of a steel rod bent into a triangle, open at one angle, and struck with a steel rod. Only since the end of the 18th cent. has it been an orchestral...

thorn , in botany

(Encyclopedia)thorn, sharp-pointed projection on some plants, usually protective in function. Botanically, thorns are distinguished as modified stems (as in the honey locust and hawthorn) from spines, which are mod...

Regulus, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Regulus rĕgˈyələs [key], brightest star in the constellation Leo; Bayer designation Alpha Leonis; 1992 position R.A. 10h08m, Dec. +12°00′. A bluish-white main-sequence star of spectral class B7...

Browse by Subject