Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Abihail

(Encyclopedia)Abihail ăbəhāˈəl [key], in the Bible. 1 Father of Queen Esther. 2 Gadite. 3 Merarite woman. 4 Wife of Abishur. 5 Mother-in-law of Rehoboam. ...

Abi

(Encyclopedia)Abi āˈbī [key] [short for Abijah], in the Bible, King Hezekiah's mother. ...

Mary, the mother of Jesus

(Encyclopedia)Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the He...

placenta

(Encyclopedia)placenta pləsĕnˈtə [key] or afterbirth, organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy. It is a unique characteristic of the higher (or placental) mammals. In humans it is a thick mass, about ...

Joanna, Spanish queen of Castile

(Encyclopedia)Joanna (Joanna the Mad), 1479–1555, Spanish queen of Castile and León (1504–55), daughter of Ferdinand II and Isabella I. She succeeded to Castile and León at the death of her mother. Ferdinand ...

Opie, Iona

(Encyclopedia)Opie, Iona, 1923–2017, b. Iona Margaret Balfour Archibald, and Peter Mason Opie, 1918–1982, British folklorists of the rhymes, games, and songs of children's culture and literature. They met durin...

Millett, Kate

(Encyclopedia)Millett, Kate (Katharine Murray Millett), 1934–2017, American feminist author and activist, b. St. Paul, Minn., B.A. Univ. of Minn., 1956, M.A. Oxford, 1958, Ph.D. Columbia, 1968. Her pioneering fem...

Alfonso XII, king of Spain

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso XII, 1857–85, king of Spain (1874–85), son of Isabella II. He went into exile with his parents at the time of the revolt of the Carlists in 1868 and was educated in Austria and England. In...

Root, George Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Root, George Frederick, 1820–95, American composer, b. Sheffield, Mass. He taught at schools in Boston and New York City. He wrote gospel songs and composed sentimental ballads to Fanny Crosby's lyr...

Ophion

(Encyclopedia)Ophion ōfīˈən [key], in Greek mythology, a huge serpent. An orphic god who ruled the world with his mother, Eurynome, before the reign of Kronos. When he became unruly, Eurynome banished him to th...
 

Browse by Subject