Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Peabody, George

(Encyclopedia)Peabody, George pēˈbädē, –bədē [key], 1795–1869, American financier and philanthropist, b. South Danvers (now Peabody), Mass. At the age of 11 he was apprenticed to a grocer, and later (1814...

Yameen, Abdullah

(Encyclopedia)Yameen, Abdullah (Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayoom), 1959–, Maldivian politician, president of the Maldives (2013–18). The half-brother of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who was president from 1978 to 2008, Ya...

Harris, William Torrey

(Encyclopedia)Harris, William Torrey, 1835–1909, American educator and philosopher, b. Windham co., Conn., educated at Yale. He was superintendent (1868–80) of the St. Louis public school system and was U.S. co...

Nevada

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Nevada nəvădˈə, –vä– [key], far western state of the United States. It is bordered by Utah (E), Arizona (SE), California (SW, W), and Oregon and Idaho (N). In the 20th cent. the ...

Schuschnigg, Kurt von

(Encyclopedia)Schuschnigg, Kurt von ko͝ort fən sho͝oshˈnĭk [key], 1897–1977, Austrian chancellor. He served (1932–34) as minister of justice and education and helped Engelbert Dollfuss repress the Social D...

town

(Encyclopedia)town, in the United States. In the New England states the town is the basic unit of local government. The New England town government's unique feature is the town meeting, much praised as a nearly pur...

ocher

(Encyclopedia)ocher ōˈkər [key], mixture of varying proportions of iron oxide and clay, used as a pigment. It occurs naturally as yellow ocher (yellow or yellow-brown in color), the iron oxide being limonite, or...

lese majesty

(Encyclopedia)lese majesty or leze majesty both: lēz măˈjĭstē [key] [Fr. lèse majesté, Lat. laesae maiestatis (crimen)=(crime of) violating majesty], offense against the dignity of the sovereign of a state o...

Presbyterianism

(Encyclopedia)Presbyterianism, form of Christian church organization based on administration by a hierarchy of courts composed of clerical and lay presbyters. Holding a position between episcopacy (government by bi...

Elgin, James Bruce, 8th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Elgin, James Bruce, 8th earl of ĕlˈgĭn [key], 1811–63, British statesman, son of the 7th earl. He served as governor of Jamaica (1842–46) and in 1847 was appointed governor-general of Canada. T...
 

Browse by Subject