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(Encyclopedia)CE5 Linden, Tilia americana linden, common name for the Tiliaceae, a family of chiefly woody shrubs and trees. Most genera are tropical, but the genus Tilia, commonly called linden, or lime tree, ...

lens, in optics

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Lenses lens, device for forming an image of an object by the refraction of light. In its simplest form it is a disk of transparent substance, commonly glass, with its two surfaces curved or wi...

Leo, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Leo [Lat.,=the lion], northern constellation lying S of Ursa Major and on the ecliptic (apparent path of the sun through the heavens) between Cancer and Virgo; it is one of the constellations of the z...

locust, in botany

(Encyclopedia)locust, in botany, any species of the genus Robinia, deciduous trees or shrubs of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) native to the United States and Mexico. The locusts have pendent clusters of flo...

Larissa, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Larissa, in astronomy, one of the natural satellites, or moons, of Neptune. ...

larkspur, in botany

(Encyclopedia)larkspur, any north temperate, Old World annual of the genus Consolida of the buttercup family. Consolida species were formerly classified in the genus Delphinium, which includes similar annual, bienn...

labor, in physiology

(Encyclopedia)labor: see birth.

labor, in economics

(Encyclopedia)labor, term used both for the effort of performing a task and for the workers engaged in the activity. In ancient times much of the work was done by slaves (see slavery). In the feudal period agricult...

Ariel, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Ariel ârˈēəl [key], in astronomy, one of the moons, or natural satellites, of Uranus. ...