Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

monitor, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)monitor, any of various, mostly tropical lizards. A monitor lizard has a heavy body, long head and neck, long tail that comes to a whiplike end, and strong legs with sharp claws. Its slender, forked t...

Atlas, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Atlas, in astronomy, one of the named moons, or natural satellites, of Saturn. Also known as Saturn XV (or S15), Atlas is a small, irregularly shaped (nonspherical) body measuring about 25 mi (40 km) ...

atlas, in geography

(Encyclopedia)atlas, in geography, collection of maps or charts. It usually includes data on various features of a country, e.g., its topography, natural resources, climate, and population, as well as its agricultu...

Moon Jae-in

(Encyclopedia)Moon Jae-in, 1953–, South Korean political leader, president of South Korea (2017–). The son of North Korean refugees, Moon studied law at Kyung Hee Univ. but was expelled twice for organizing dem...

Metis, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Metis mēˈtĭs [key], in astronomy, one of the 39 known moons, or natural satellites, of Jupiter. ...

naturalism, in art

(Encyclopedia)naturalism, in art, a tendency toward strict adherence to the physical appearance of nature and rejection of ideal forms. Artists as diverse as Velázquez, J. F. Millet, and Monet, have followed natur...

naturalism, in literature

(Encyclopedia)naturalism, in literature, an approach that proceeds from an analysis of reality in terms of natural forces, e.g., heredity, environment, physical drives. The chief literary theorist on naturalism was...

naturalism, in philosophy

(Encyclopedia)naturalism, in philosophy, a position that attempts to explain all phenomena and account for all values by means of strictly natural (as opposed to supernatural) categories. The particular meaning of ...

nautilus, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)nautilus or chambered nautilus, cephalopod mollusk belonging to the sole surviving genus (Nautilus) of a subclass that flourished 200 million years ago, known as the nautiloids. The spirally coiled sh...

Naiad, in astronomy

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

Browse by Subject