Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Prakrit literature

(Encyclopedia)Prakrit literature. By the 6th cent. b.c. the people of India were speaking and writing languages that were much simpler than classical Sanskrit. These vernacular forms, of which there were several, a...

Fulani

(Encyclopedia)Fulani fo͞oläˈnē [key], people of W Africa, numbering approximately 14 million. They are of mixed sub-Saharan African and Berber origin. First recorded as living in the Senegambia region, they are...

Lions International

(Encyclopedia)Lions International, organization of business and professional people, founded (1917) by Melvin Jones. The International Association of Lions Clubs (popularly known as Lions International) is devoted ...

Nkrumah, Kwame

(Encyclopedia)Nkrumah, Kwame kwäˈmā nkro͞oˈmä [key], 1909–72, African political leader, prime minister ...

Jewsbury, Geraldine Endsor

(Encyclopedia)Jewsbury, Geraldine Endsor jo͞ozˈbərē [key], 1812–80, English novelist. She is remembered as much for her friendship with the Carlyles and other literary people as for her novels, which include ...

Sabelli

(Encyclopedia)Sabelli səbĕlˈī [key], people of ancient Italy who spoke Oscan. They were a loose group and seemed to have had little or no political unity. Oscan-speaking tribes expanded over central Italy, and ...

Phut

(Encyclopedia)Phut fŭt [key], in the Bible, son of Ham and eponym of an African people. It may also be a region, possibly Punt or Libya, and is perhaps the same as Pul (2.) It also appears as Put. ...

Gaucher's disease

(Encyclopedia)Gaucher's disease gōshāzˈ [key], rare genetic disease involving a deficiency of an enzyme, glucocerebrosidase, which normally breaks down certain body glycolipids (i.e., lipids (fats) that have a s...

tinnitus

(Encyclopedia)tinnitus, the hearing of sounds in the absence of any external sound, also known as ringing in the ears. The sounds may be perceived as hissing, whistling, buzzing, swooshing, roaring, or clicking in ...

asperges

(Encyclopedia)asperges əspûrˈjəs [key], ceremonial sprinkling of the people with holy water by the priest before the Sunday High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church. The accompanying antiphon begins, Asperges me,...
 

Browse by Subject