Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

231 results found

Parnell, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Parnell, Thomas, 1679–1718, Irish poet, b. Dublin. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he was archdeacon of Clogher from 1706. He was a friend of Pope and Swift and a member of the Scriblerus Club....

Mattathias

(Encyclopedia)Mattathias mătˌəthīˈəs [key] [Gr. variant of Mattithiah]. 1, 2 Two in Luke's genealogy. 3 Father of the Maccabees. 4 Captain under Jonathan, the Maccabee. 5 Son of Simon, the Maccabee, murdered ...

Wotton, William

(Encyclopedia)Wotton, William, 1666–1727, English scholar. He is best known for his Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning (1694), a defense of contemporary learning written in response to an essay by Sir W...

Hawley, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hawley, Joseph, 1723–88, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Northampton, Mass. He was a leader of the opposition to the revivalist preaching of Jonathan Edwards and helped bring about E...

Dublin, city, Republic of Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Dublin, Irish Baile Átha Cliath, county borough (2021 est. pop. 1,430,000), Leinster, capital of the Republic of Ireland, on Dublin Bay at the mout...

Astell, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Astell, Mary ăsˈtəl [key], 1666–1731, English author and feminist. Her Serious Proposal to the Ladies (2 parts, 1694–97) offered a scheme for a women's college, an idea far in advance of the ti...

Forster, John

(Encyclopedia)Forster, John, 1812–76, English biographer and critic. He was influential as literary and dramatic critic of the London Examiner. His Lives of the Statesmen of the Commonwealth (5 vol., 1836–39) e...

water wheel, device

(Encyclopedia)water wheel, device for utilizing the power of flowing or falling water. The Norse wheel is the oldest type known. Despite its name it probably originated in the Middle East, where the swift stream re...

Bentley, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Bentley, Richard, 1662–1742, English critic and philologist. Generally considered the greatest of English classical scholars, he was also an Anglican clergyman who became (1717) Regius Professor of ...

swallow

(Encyclopedia)swallow, common name for small perching birds of almost worldwide distribution. There are about 100 species of swallows, including the martins, which belong to the same family. Swallows have long, nar...
 

Browse by Subject