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Čech, Svatopluk

(Encyclopedia)Čech, Svatopluk sväˈtôplo͝ok chĕkh [key], 1846–1908, Czech poet and novelist. His strong Pan-Slavism and his love for democracy and freedom won him great popularity. His political enthusiasms ...

black gum

(Encyclopedia)black gum, ornamental deciduous tree (Nyssa sylvatica family Nyssaceae) native to E North America. The leaves turn bright scarlet in the fall. The very tough wood was used for wheel hubs and other pur...

Blida

(Encyclopedia)Blida blēˈdä [key], town, N Algeria, at the foot of the Mitidja Atlas Mts. The name also a...

Linton, Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Linton, Ralph, 1893–1953, American anthropologist, b. Philadelphia, B.A. Swarthmore College, 1915, Ph.D. Harvard, 1925. He was (1922–28) assistant curator at the Field Museum, Chicago, then taught...

Milo, athlete of ancient Greece

(Encyclopedia)Milo mīˈlŏn [key], fl. 500 b.c., athlete of ancient Greece, b. Crotona. He won numerous victories in wrestling at the Olympic and Pythian games. He is said to have carried a heifer on his shoulders...

meranti

(Encyclopedia)meranti, any of several species of Shorea, the most important timber genus in tropical Asia, of the family Dipterocarpaceae. Meranti is an important emergent tree of the tropical forests of Asia. The ...

Dole, Nathan Haskell

(Encyclopedia)Dole, Nathan Haskell, 1852–1935, American author, b. Chelsea, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1874. After teaching in New York and in New England, he worked as a newspaperman in Boston, San Francisco, and Phi...

Droste-Hülshoff, Annette Elisabeth, Freiin von

(Encyclopedia)Droste-Hülshoff, Annette Elisabeth, Freiin or Baroness von änĕtˈə ālēˈzäbĕt frīˈĭn fən drôsˈtə-hülsˈhôf [key], 1797–1848, German poet. Often called the greatest German woman poet...

avocado

(Encyclopedia)avocado äˈvəkäˈdo, ăvˈ– [key], tropical American broad-leaved evergreen tree of the genus Persea of the family Lauraceae (laurel family). The fruit, called avocado, alligator pear, or, in Spa...

Wright, James

(Encyclopedia)Wright, James, 1927–80, American poet, b. Ohio. He studied at Kenyon College and the Univ. of Washington. Wright was the master of an elegant, beautifully controlled style. His early poems contained...