Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

carbon tetrachloride

(Encyclopedia)carbon tetrachloride tĕˌtrəklôrˌəmĕthˈān [key], CCl4, colorless, poisonous, liquid organic compound that boils at 76.8℃. It is toxic when absorbed through the skin or when inhaled. It react...

virtue

(Encyclopedia)virtue [Lat.,=manliness], in philosophy, quality of good in human conduct. The cardinal virtues, as presented by Plato, were wisdom (or prudence), courage, temperance, and justice. They are to be inte...

vegetable

(Encyclopedia)vegetable, term originally used for any plant, now the name for many food plants, most of them annuals, and for their edible parts. There is no clear botanical distinction between vegetables and fruit...

Troyes, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Troyes, Treaty of, 1420, agreement between Henry V of England, Charles VI of France, and Philip the Good of Burgundy. Its purpose, ultimately unsuccessful, was to settle the issues of the Hundred Year...

William II, king of Sicily

(Encyclopedia)William II (William the Good), c.1153–1189, king of Sicily (1166–89), son and successor of William I. He married (1177) Joan, daughter of Henry II of England. As an ally of Pope Alexander III and ...

opposition

(Encyclopedia)opposition, in astronomy, alignment of two celestial bodies on opposite sides of the sky as viewed from earth. Opposition of the moon or planets is often determined in reference to the sun. Only the s...

Percheron horse

(Encyclopedia)Percheron horse pûrˈchərŏnˌ [key], breed of draft horse developed in NW France, originally of Flemish origin, but also containing some Arabian blood (see Arabian horse). For a heavy horse, it has...

Shorthorn cattle

(Encyclopedia)Shorthorn cattle, breed of beef cattle developed from the native cattle of the Tees valley in NE England; formerly called Durham cattle. Systematic breeding of Shorthorns began in the latter part of t...

sod house

(Encyclopedia)sod house, house with walls made of strips of sod laid horizontally in courses like bricks. Sod houses were common in the frontier days on the western plains of the United States, where wood and stone...

Queen Charlotte Islands

(Encyclopedia)Queen Charlotte Islands, archipelago of several large and many small islands, off the coast of W British Columbia, Canada. The main islands are Graham and Moresby. Masset on Graham Island is the main ...
 

Browse by Subject