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Bermuda Triangle

(Encyclopedia)Bermuda Triangle, area in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida where a number of ships and aircraft have vanished. Also known as the Devil's Triangle, it is bounded at its points by Melbourne, Fla.; Bermuda...

carpe diem

(Encyclopedia)carpe diem kärˈpĕ dēˈĕm [key], a descriptive term for literature that urges readers to live for the moment [from the Latin phrase “seize the day,” used by Horace]. The theme, which was widel...

Damanhur

(Encyclopedia)Damanhur dämänho͝orˈ [key], city (1986 pop. 188,939), capital of Beheira governorate, N Egypt, in the Nile River delta. It is a communications center and a market for cotton and rice. Industries i...

An Nasiriyah

(Encyclopedia)An Nasiriyah än näsĭrĭˈyä [key], city (1987 pop. 265,937), provincial capital, SE Iraq, on the Euphrates River. It is the center of a date-growing region. Founded in 1870, the city was captured ...

latitude

(Encyclopedia)latitude, angular distance of any point on the surface of the earth north or south of the equator. The equator is latitude 0°, and the North Pole and South Pole are latitudes 90°N and 90°S, respect...

alexandrine

(Encyclopedia)alexandrine ălˌĭgzănˈdrēnˌ, –drīnˌ [key], in prosody, a line of 12 syllables (or 13 if the last syllable is unstressed). Its name probably derives from the fact that some poems of the 12th ...

pentameter

(Encyclopedia)pentameter pĕntămˈətər [key] [Gr.,=measure of five], in prosody, a line to be scanned in five feet (see versification). The third line of Thomas Nashe's “Spring” is in pentameter: “Cold dot...

Corinna

(Encyclopedia)Corinna kərĭnˈə [key], fl. c.500? b.c., Greek poet of Tanagra. Her verse, fragments of which remain, deals with mythological themes and is written in Boeotian dialect. There exists no consensus on...

Lons-le-Saunier

(Encyclopedia)Lons-le-Saunier lôN-lə-sōnyāˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 20,140), capital of Jura dept., E France, at the foot of the Jura Mts. A saltwater spa since Roman times, the town has food and textile indust...

tax exemption

(Encyclopedia)tax exemption, immunity from the requirement of paying taxes. Federal, state, and usually local law provide exemption from taxation for a wide variety of organizations, usually not-for-profit, such as...