Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

senryu

(Encyclopedia)senryu sĕnrēo͞oˈ [key], a Japanese poem structurally similar to the haiku but primarily concerned with human nature. It is usually humorous or satiric. Used loosely, the term means a poem similar ...

Sangay

(Encyclopedia)Sangay, active volcano, 17,343 ft (5,286 m) high, S central Ecuador. A symmetrical, glacier-capped, cone-shaped stratovolcano at the edge of the Amazon rainforest, it is the most active volcano in Ecu...

monsters and imaginary beasts

(Encyclopedia)monsters and imaginary beasts. The mythologies and legends of ancient and modern cultures teem with an enormous variety of monsters and imaginary beasts. A great number of these are composites of diff...

rat

(Encyclopedia)rat, name applied to various stout-bodied rodents, usually having a pointed muzzle, long slender tail, and dexterous forepaws. It refers particularly to the two species of house rat, Rattus norvegicus...

Dehmel, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Dehmel, Richard rĭkhˈärt dāˈməl [key], 1863–1920, German poet. An ardent mountain climber and soldier, he expressed his restless temperament in passionate and impressionistic poetry. His verse...

Collins, Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Collins, Anthony, 1676–1729, English theologian; a friend of John Locke. He set forth the position of the deists and defended the cause of rational theology. His Discourse of Free Thinking (1713) wa...

Faure, Élie

(Encyclopedia)Faure, Élie ālēˈ fōr [key], 1873–1937, French art historian. Trained in medicine, he brought his scientific knowledge to bear in his study of the history of art, relating it to the progress of ...

idol

(Encyclopedia)idol, an object, frequently an image, which is worshiped as a deity. Idols are usually found in human or animal form and may be treated as though alive; they are fed, bathed, anointed, crowned, and so...

Grinnell College

(Encyclopedia)Grinnell College, at Grinnell, Iowa; coeducational; incorporated 1847 as Iowa College, opened 1848 by Congregationalists at Davenport. The college moved to Grinnell in 1859, under the auspices of Josi...

Norton, Eleanor Holmes

(Encyclopedia)Norton, Eleanor Holmes, 1937–, African-American lawyer and government official. As an attorney (1965–70) for the American Civil Liberties Union, she specialized in First Amendment cases. She later...

Browse by Subject