Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

ablative

(Encyclopedia)ablative ăbˈlətĭvˌ [key] [Lat.,=carrying off], in Latin grammar, the case used in a number of circumstances, particularly with certain prepositions and in locating place or time. The term is also...

Gortyna

(Encyclopedia)Gortyna gôrtīˈnə [key], ancient city, S central Crete. Under Rome it was one of the leading cities of the island. Many ancient Greek remains have been discovered on the site. An inscription dating...

Apollodorus, Athenian painter

(Encyclopedia)Apollodorus əpŏlˌōdôrˈəs [key], fl. 430–400 b.c., Athenian painter, called the Shadower, said to have introduced the use of light and shade to model form. Among his few known works are Ajax S...

Jameson, Storm

(Encyclopedia)Jameson, Storm (Margaret Storm Jameson), 1891–1986, English novelist and critic, b. Whitby, Yorkshire, grad. Leeds Univ., 1912. Descended from a shipbuilding family, she drew on her knowledge of tha...

Dorsett, Tony

(Encyclopedia)Dorsett, Tony (Anthony Drew Dorsett) dôrˈsət [key], 1954–, American football player, b. Rochester, Pa. The first running back to gain over 6,000 yards in Division I-A, he won the Heisman Trophy a...

Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg

(Encyclopedia)Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg yōˈhän gāˈôrk älˈbrĕkhtsbĕrˌgər [key], 1736–1809, Austrian musical theorist, teacher, and composer. He became (1772) court organist in Vienna and later was ...

Fairfax

(Encyclopedia)Fairfax, city (2020 pop. 24,146), historic seat of Fairfax co., NE Va., a residential suburb of Washington, D.C.; inc. 1892, as a city 1961 (at which ti...

fandango

(Encyclopedia)fandango făndăngˈgō [key], ancient Spanish dance, probably of Moorish origin, that came into Europe in the 17th cent. It is in triple time and is danced by a single couple to the accompaniment of ...

Elijah ben Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Elijah ben Solomon, 1720–97, Jewish scholar, called the Gaon of Vilna, b. Lithuania. A leading Jewish scholar of his time, he opposed the spread of Hasidism in Lithuania and Poland because he feared...

Savage, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Savage, Edward, 1761–1817, American portrait painter and engraver. He was probably self-taught, although he may have studied with Benjamin West during a brief visit to London. He at one time operate...

Browse by Subject