Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Song of Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, or Canticles, book of the Bible, 22d in the order of the Authorized Version. Although traditionally ascribed to King Solomon, many scholars date it as late as the 3d c...

carol

(Encyclopedia)carol, popular hymn, of joyful nature, in celebration of an occasion such as May Day, Easter, or Christmas. The earliest English carols date from the 15th cent. The carol is characterized by simplicit...

Rhyniophyta

(Encyclopedia)Rhyniophyta rīˌnēŏfˈətə [key], division of plants known only from fossils, of which the genus Rhynia was perhaps the most important. These plants date from the Silurian and Devonian age. Relati...

Brasstown Bald

(Encyclopedia)Brasstown Bald, peak, 4,784 ft (1,458 m) high, N Ga., in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mts., near the N.C. line. It is the highest point in Georgia. ...

Steele, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Steele, Mount, 16,624 ft (5,067 m) high, in the St. Elias Mts., SW Yukon, Canada, in Kluane National Park near the Alaska line; one of Canada's tallest peaks. ...

Ellwood City

(Encyclopedia)Ellwood City, industrial borough (2020 pop. 7,166), Beaver and Lawrence counties, W central Pa., near the Ohio line; inc. 1892. It has many metal-produc...

Pearl River

(Encyclopedia)Pearl River, uninc. village (1990 pop. 15,314), Rockland co., SE N.Y., near the N.J. line. It is a residential suburb of New York City, and a computer and telecommunications research and development c...

Hirschfeld, Al

(Encyclopedia)Hirschfeld, Al (Albert Hirschfeld) hûrshˈfĕld [key], 1903–2003, American graphic artist, b. St. Louis. He and his family moved to New York City when he was 12, and he studied art there and in Par...

John IV, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)John IV, 1604–56, king of Portugal (1640–56). He succeeded as duke of Braganza in 1630. Descended from Manuel I and in illegitimate line from John I, he had the strongest claim to the Portuguese t...

parabola

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Parabola parabola pərăbˈələ [key], plane curve consisting of all points equidistant from a given fixed point (focus) and a given fixed line (directrix) (see illustration). It is the conic...

Browse by Subject