Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Kamehameha kämāˈhämāˈhä [key], dynasty of Hawaiian monarchs. Kamehameha I (Kamehameha the Great), c.1738–1819, was king of the island of Hawaii after 1790. Through conquest he became (1810) r...

(Encyclopedia) Nubia no͞oˈbēə [key], ancient state of NE Africa. At the height of its political power Nubia extended, from north to south, from the First Cataract of the Nile (near Aswan, Egypt) to Khartoum, in ...

(Encyclopedia) Bruges brŭˈgə, Du. brüpstr;khə [key], city, capital of West Flan...

(Encyclopedia) modernism, in religion, a general movement in the late 19th and 20th cent. that tried to reconcile historical Christianity with the findings of modern science and philosophy. Modernism arose mainly fr...

(Encyclopedia) Kalmykia or Republic of Kalmykia-Khalmg-Tangeh, constituent republic (1990 est. pop. 329,000), c.29,400 sq mi (76,150 sq km), SE European Russia, on the Caspian Sea. Elista is the capital. A semino...

(Encyclopedia) Trondheim trônˈhām [key], city (1995 pop. 142,792), capital of Sør-Trøndelag co., central Norway, a port on the Trondheimsfjord (an arm of the Atlantic Ocean). It is also known by its original na...

(Encyclopedia) Servetus, Michael sərvēˈtəs [key], 1511–53, Spanish theologian and physician. His name in Spanish was Miguel Serveto. In his early years he came in contact with some of the leading reformers in ...

(Encyclopedia) fasting, partial or temporary abstinence from food, a widely used form of asceticism. Among the stricter Jews the principal fast is the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur; in Islam the faithful fast all ...

(Encyclopedia) Lent [Old Eng. lencten,=spring], Latin Quadragesima (meaning 40; thus the 40 days of Lent). In Christianity, Lent is a time of penance, prayer, preparation for or recollection of baptism, and preparat...

(Encyclopedia) Yazidi or Yezidi Middle Eastern religious community whose beliefs incorporate elements of Zoroastrianism, Sufism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Judaism. Its members, numbering between 200,000 and one...