Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

oratory

(Encyclopedia)oratory, the art of swaying an audience by eloquent speech. In ancient Greece and Rome oratory was included under the term rhetoric, which meant the art of composing as well as delivering a speech. Or...

myna

(Encyclopedia)myna or mynah both: mīˈnə [key], common name for any of a number of species of Asian starlings found chiefly in India and Sri Lanka, some of which are known for vocal mimicry. Most familiar is the ...

mountain beaver

(Encyclopedia)mountain beaver, stout, short-limbed North American rodent, Aplodontia rufa, not closely related to the true beaver. Also called sewellel beaver after the Chinook word for a robe made from its pelts, ...

Lincoln, Mary Todd

(Encyclopedia)Lincoln, Mary Todd, 1818–82, wife of Abraham Lincoln, b. Lexington, Ky. Of a good Kentucky family, she was living with her sister, daughter-in-law of Gov. Ninian Edwards of Illinois, in Springfield,...

Magnus I

(Encyclopedia)Magnus I (Magnus the Good), 1024–47, king of Norway (1035–47) and Denmark (1042–47), son of Olaf II. He was recalled from exile in 1035 by the former opponents of Olaf when they rebelled against...

Helvétius, Claude Adrien

(Encyclopedia)Helvétius, Claude Adrien hĕlvēˈshəs, Fr. klōd ädrēăNˈ ĕlvāsyüsˈ [key], 1715–71, French philosopher, one of the Encyclopedists. He held the post of farmer-general (i.e., tax collector),...

De Vinne, Theodore Low

(Encyclopedia)De Vinne, Theodore Low də vĭnˈē [key], 1828–1914, American printer, b. Stamford, Conn. He learned his trade in the office of the Newburgh (N.Y.) Gazette and in 1848 entered the shop of Francis H...

dandelion

(Encyclopedia)dandelion [Eng. form of Fr.,=lion's tooth], any plant of the genus Taraxacum of the family Asteraceae (aster family), perennial herbs of wide distribution in temperate regions. The dandelion has a ros...

Dazai, Osamu

(Encyclopedia)Dazai, Osamu sho͞oˈjē tso͞oˈshĭmä [key], 1909–48, Japanese novelist. Considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th-century Japan, Dazai was noted for his ironic and gloomy wit, his o...

Hutcheson, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Hutcheson, Francis hŭchˈəsən [key], 1694–1746, British philosopher, b. Co. Down, Ireland. He was a professor at the Univ. of Glasgow from 1729 until his death. His reputation rests on four essay...
 

Browse by Subject