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Hooch, Pieter de

(Encyclopedia)Hooch or Hoogh, Pieter de both: pēˈtər də hōkh [key], b. c.1629, d. after 1677, Dutch genre painter. He worked in Delft, Leiden, and Amsterdam, painting intimate interiors that may have been infl...

Fleming, Renée

(Encyclopedia)Fleming, Renée, 1959–, American soprano, b. Indiana, Pa. In 1986 she made her professional debut in Salzburg, Austria, in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, and has since performed at Covent Gar...

four-o'clock

(Encyclopedia)four-o'clock, common name for members of the Nyctaginaceae, a family of plants found in warm climates, especially in the Americas, chiefly as herbs but often in the tropics as shrubs or trees. Species...

Ischia

(Encyclopedia)Ischia ēsˈkyä [key], volcanic island, 18 sq mi (47 sq km), Campania, S Italy, in the Tyrrh...

basil

(Encyclopedia)basil băzˈəl [key], any plant of the genus Ocimum, tender herbs or small shrubs of the family Labiatae (mint family), mostly of Old World warm regions and cultivated for the aromatic leaves. The ba...

worm lizard

(Encyclopedia)worm lizard, partially or entirely limbless burrowing lizard of the family Amphisbaenidae. All worm lizards lack hind limbs and most species lack forelimbs as well. Except for their size, they are ver...

silverfish

(Encyclopedia)silverfish, common name for primitive, wingless insects of the family Lepismatidae. The silverfish, which has two long antennae and three long tail bristles, is named for its covering of tiny, silvery...

zinnia

(Encyclopedia)zinnia, any species of the genus Zinnia of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native chiefly to Mexico, though some range as far north as Colorado and as far south as Guatemala. The common zinnia o...

Kyrie eleison

(Encyclopedia)Kyrie eleison kĭrˈēāˌ əlāˈēsŏnˌ, –sən [key] [Gr.,=Lord, have mercy], in the Roman Catholic Church, prayer of the Mass coming after the introit, the only ordinary part of the traditional ...

Lowell, Francis Cabot

(Encyclopedia)Lowell, Francis Cabot, 1775–1817, pioneer American cotton manufacturer, b. Newburyport, Mass.; son of John Lowell (1743–1802). A merchant in Boston, he traveled (1810) to England, where he studied...