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colonnade

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Colonnade colonnade kŏlənādˈ [key], a row of columns usually supporting a roof. Colonnades were popular with the Greeks and Romans, who employed them in the stoa and the portico; they have...

analogy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Analogy in bird and insect wings analogy, in biology, the similarities in function, but differences in evolutionary origin, of body structures in different organisms. For example, the wing of ...

geodesic dome

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Geodesic dome geodesic dome jēˌədĕsˈĭk, –dēˈsĭk [key], structure that roughly approximates a hemisphere. Popular in recent years as economical, easily erected buildings, geodesic do...

Mascarene Islands

(Encyclopedia)CEE Mascarene Islands măskərēnˈ [key], in the Indian Ocean, E of Madagascar. They include Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodriguez. Apparently known to the Arabs, they were rediscovered by the Portug...

arrowhead

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Broad-leaved arrowhead, Sagittaria latifolia arrowhead, any plant of the genus Sagittaria, widely distributed marsh or aquatic herbs of the primitive family Alismataceae (water-plantain family...

volume

(Encyclopedia)CE5 volume, measure of solid content or capacity, usually expressed in units that are the cubes of linear units, such as cubic inches and cubic centimeters, or in units of dry and liquid measure, s...

squinch

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Squinch squinch, in architecture, a piece of construction used for filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a proper base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome. It was th...

teleportation, in science fiction

(Encyclopedia)teleportation, in science fiction, the process of instantaneously transporting a person or an object between two points, usually by disappearing from one place and reappearing at a second place as a p...

truss

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. King post truss B. Queen, with princess posts truss, in architecture and engineering, a supporting structure or framework composed of beams, girders, or rods commonly of steel or wood lying...

sitar

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Sitar sitar sĭtärˈ [key], fretted string instrument with a gourdlike body and a long neck, similar to the lute. It has from 3 to 7 gut strings, tuned in fourths or fifths (or both), and a l...