Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

76 results found

Native American languages

(Encyclopedia)Native American languages, languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arriv...

Mexican art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Mexican art and architecture, works of art and structures produced in the area that is now the country of Mexico. Such arts were already highly developed in the ancient civilizations flourishing befor...

city

(Encyclopedia)city, densely populated urban center, larger than a village or a town, whose inhabitants are engaged primarily in commerce and industry. In the United States a city is legally an incorporated municipa...

pyramid, structure

(Encyclopedia)pyramid. The true pyramid exists only in Egypt and Sudan, though the term has also been applied to similar structures in other countries. Egyptian pyramids are square in plan and their triangular side...

Honduras

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Honduras hŏndo͝orˈəs, –dyo͝orˈ–; Span., ōndo͞oˈräs [key], officially Republic of Honduras, republic (2015 est. pop. 8,961,000), 43,277 sq mi (112,088 sq km), Central America. Seco...

inscription

(Encyclopedia)inscription, writing on durable material. The art is called epigraphy. Modern inscriptions are made for permanent, monumental record, as on gravestones, cornerstones, and building fronts; they are oft...

calendar

(Encyclopedia)calendar [Lat., from Kalends], system of reckoning time for the practical purpose of recording past events and calculating dates for future plans. The calendar is based on noting ordinary and easily o...

sacrifice

(Encyclopedia)sacrifice [Lat. sacrificare=to make holy], a type of religious offering, or gift to a superior or supreme being, in which the offering is consecrated through its destruction. The Paleolithic evidenc...

Cortés, Hernán

(Encyclopedia)Cortés, Hernán, or Hernando Cortez kôrtĕzˈ, Span. ārnänˈ, ārnänˈdō kōrtāsˈ [key], 1485–1547, Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Mexico. In Cortés's absence his enemies at home grad...

archaeology

(Encyclopedia)archaeology ärkēŏlˈəjē [key] [Gr.,=study of beginnings], a branch of anthropology that seeks to document and explain continuity and change and similarities and differences among human cultures. ...
 

Browse by Subject