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Norse

(Encyclopedia)Norse, another name for the North Germanic, or Scandinavian, group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). The modern Norse languages—Danish, Fae...

Saroyan, William

(Encyclopedia)Saroyan, William səroiˈən [key], 1908–81, American author, b. Fresno, Calif. Of Armenian background and extremely prolific, he created works that combine optimism, sentimentality, and a rhapsodic...

silhouette

(Encyclopedia)silhouette sĭlˌo͞oĕtˈ [key], outline image, especially a profile drawing solidly filled in or a cutout pasted against a lighter background. It was named for Étienne de Silhouette (1709–67), wh...

Bastille

(Encyclopedia)Bastille băstēlˈ [key] [O.Fr.,=fortress], fortress and state prison in Paris, located, until its demolition (started in 1789), near the site of the present Place de la Bastille. It was begun c.1369...

Russian State Library

(Encyclopedia)Russian State Library (RSL), Russia's national library, located in Moscow; one of the world's largest libraries. Moscow's first public library, the RSL was founded in 1862 as the library portion of th...

Roth, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Roth, Joseph or Józef yōˈzĕf rōt [key], 1894–1939, Austrian novelist, essayist, journalist, and publisherb. Brody, Galicia. An outspoken critic of Hitler and militarism, he moved to Paris in 19...

Raymond, count of Tripoli

(Encyclopedia)Raymond, c.1140–1187, count of Tripoli (1152–87), great-great-grandson of Raymond IV of Toulouse. He played a leading part in the last years of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Captured (1164) by t...

constitution, principles of government

(Encyclopedia)constitution, fundamental principles of government in a nation, either implied in its laws, institutions, and customs, or embodied in one fundamental document or in several. In the first category—cu...

Chomsky, Noam

(Encyclopedia)Chomsky, Noam nōm chŏmˈskē [key], 1928–, educator and linguist, b. Philadelphia. Chomsky, who has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1955, developed a theory of transforma...

Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich

(Encyclopedia)Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich chĕkˈôf, Rus. əntônˈ pävˈləvĭch chĕˈkhəv [key], 1860–1904, Russian short-story writer, dramatist, and physician, b. Taganrog. The son of a grocer and grandson o...
 

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