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Freyja

(Encyclopedia)Freyja frāˈä [key], Norse goddess of love, marriage, and fertility. Her identity and attributes were often confused with those of the goddess Frigg. As a deity of the dead, Freyja was entitled to h...

Genesee

(Encyclopedia)Genesee jĕnəsēˈ [key], river, 158 mi (254 km) long, rising in the Allegheny Mts., N Pa., and flowing through W N.Y. to Lake Ontario at Rochester; it is crossed by the New York State Canal System's...

midsummer day and midsummer night

(Encyclopedia)midsummer day and midsummer night, names given to the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24) and the preceding night (St. John's Eve, June 23). Because midsummer is about the time of ...

Ceres, in Roman religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Ceres sîrˈēz [key], in Roman religion and mythology, goddess of grain; daughter of Saturn and Ops. She was identified by the Romans with the Greek Demeter. Her worship was connected with that of th...

Rhea, in Greek religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Rhea, in Greek religion and mythology, a Titan. She was the wife and sister of Kronos, by whom she bore Zeus, Poseidon, Pluto, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter. She eventually helped Zeus overthrow Kronos. H...

Cytoxan

(Encyclopedia)Cytoxan sītŏkˈsĭn [key], trade name for the drug cyclophosphamide, used to inhibit growth of tumors and rapidly proliferating cells. It is used in the treatment of leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, and...

drugs

(Encyclopedia)drugs, substances used in medicine either externally or internally for curing, alleviating, or preventing a disease or deficiency. At the turn of the century only a few medically effective substances ...

ecstasy

(Encyclopedia)ecstasy, either of two drugs used for their euphoric effects. The original ecstasy, a so-called designer drug, also known as MDMA, is an analog of methamphetamine (see amphetamine). The other drug is ...

Dilantin

(Encyclopedia)Dilantin dīˈlăntĭn [key], trade name for diphenylhydantoin, an anticonvulsant drug. The first nonsedative antiepileptic agent, it is still widely used to control the grand mal type of epilepsy. It...

infertility

(Encyclopedia)infertility, inability to conceive or carry a child to delivery. The term is usually limited to situations where the couple has had intercourse regularly for one year without using birth control. The ...