Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Agrigento

(Encyclopedia)Agrigento ägrējānˈtō [key], Lat. Agrigentum, city, capital of Agrigento prov., S Sicily, Italy, on a hill above the Mediterranean Sea. It is an agricultural market an...

profit

(Encyclopedia)profit, in economics, return on capital, also called earnings, minus the costs of maintaining land, labor, and capital. It is also known as net income. Economic theorists generally make a distinction ...

Pulitzer Prizes

(Encyclopedia)Pulitzer Prizes, annual awards for achievements in American journalism, letters, and music. The prizes are paid from the income of a fund left by Joseph Pulitzer to the trustees of Columbia Univ. They...

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),...

Iacocca, Lee

(Encyclopedia)Iacocca, Lee (Lido Anthony Iacocca) īˌəkōˈkə [key], 1924–2019, American automobile business executive, b. Allentown, Pa., grad. Lehigh Univ. (1945), Princeton (M.A., 1946). That year he joined...

Charles II, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Charles II, 1661–1700, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily (1665–1700), son and successor of Philip IV. The last of the Spanish Hapsburgs, he was physically crippled and mentally retarded. His mothe...

aids, in feudalism

(Encyclopedia)aids, in feudalism, type of feudal due paid by a vassal to his suzerain (overlord). Aids varied with time and place, although in English-speaking countries aids were traditionally due on the knighting...

Walter, Hubert

(Encyclopedia)Walter, Hubert, d. 1205, English archbishop and statesman. He was clerk to his uncle, Ranulf de Glanvill, and in 1186 he was made dean of York. In 1189 he was appointed bishop of Salisbury, and he acc...

White Lotus Rebellion

(Encyclopedia)White Lotus Rebellion, Chinese anti-Manchu uprising that occurred during the Ch'ing dynasty. It broke out (1796) among impoverished settlers in the mountainous region that separates Sichuan prov. from...
 

Browse by Subject