Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

bestiary

(Encyclopedia)bestiary bĕsˈchēĕrˌē [key], a type of medieval book that was widely popular, particularly from the 12th to 14th cent. The bestiary presumed to describe the animals of the world and to show what ...

Mother Lode

(Encyclopedia)Mother Lode, belt of gold-bearing quartz veins, central Calif., along the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The term is sometimes limited to a strip c.70 mi (110 km) long and from 1 to 61⁄2 mi...

irony

(Encyclopedia)irony, figure of speech in which what is stated is not what is meant. The user of irony assumes that his reader or listener understands the concealed meaning of his statement. Perhaps the simplest for...

Illyés, Gyula

(Encyclopedia)Illyés, Gyula dyo͝oˈlŏ ĭlˈyās [key], 1902–83, Hungarian poet and novelist. Illyés came from a poor peasant family. He was educated in Budapest and Paris and supported himself with menial job...

Arnolfo di Cambio

(Encyclopedia)Arnolfo di Cambio ärnôlˈfō dē kämˈbyō [key], b. c.1245, d. before 1310, Italian architect and sculptor. He was Nicola Pisano's chief assistant on the Siena pulpit, but he soon began to work in...

Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d'

(Encyclopedia)Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d' märk pyĕr də vwäyāˈ də pōmēˈ kôNt därzhäNsôNˈ [key], 1696–1764, French statesman and patron of literature; younger brother of René ...

Ciechanover, Aaron

(Encyclopedia)Ciechanover, Aaron, 1947–, Israeli biochemist, M.D. Hebrew Univ.–Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 1974; D.Sc. Technion (Israel Institute of Technology), Haifa, 1982. He has been on the faculty ...

Saint Austell

(Encyclopedia)Saint Austell sŭnt ôˈstəl; [key], town (1991 pop. 36,639), Cornwall, SW England, at the mouth of the Fowey River on St. Austell Bay. China clay (discovered there c.1755) is produced and exported, ...

Scott, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Paul (Paul Mark Scott), 1930–78, British author, b. London. He joined the British army in 1940 and served in India, Burma, and Malaya from 1943 to 1946. His observations of the British there ...

Smirke, Sir Robert

(Encyclopedia)Smirke, Sir Robert, 1781–1867, English architect, one of the most noted exponents of the classic revival. His best-known design is the main facade of the British Museum (1823–47). Other buildings ...
 

Browse by Subject