Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) monasticism mənăsˈtĭsĭzəm, mō– [key], form of religious life, usually conducted in a community under a common rule. Monastic life is bound by ascetical practices expressed typically in the vo...

(Encyclopedia) French Revolutionary Wars, wars occurring in the era of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, the decade of 1792–1802. The wars began as an effort to defend the Revolution a...

(Encyclopedia) scholasticism skōlăsˈtĭsĭzəm [key], philosophy and theology of Western Christendom in the Middle Ages. Virtually all medieval philosophers of any significance were theologians, and their philoso...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 General anatomy of a dog dog, carnivorous, domesticated wolf (Canis lupus familiaris) of the family Canidae, to which the jackal, fox, and tanuki also belong. The family Canidae is sometimes r...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Quebec kābĕkˈ [key], province (2001 pop. 7,237,479), 594,860 sq mi (1,553,637 sq km), E Canada. During the 20th cent. great economic growth in Quebec was coupled with increased determina...

(Encyclopedia) Roman Catholic Church, Christian church headed by the pope, the bishop of Rome (see papacy and Peter, Saint). Its commonest title in official use is Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. “Roman Cathol...

(Encyclopedia) French literature, writings in medieval French dialects and standard modern French. Writings in Provençal and Breton are considered separately, as are works in French produced abroad (as at Canadian ...

(Encyclopedia) mysticism mĭsˈtĭsĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=the practice of those who are initiated into the mysteries], the practice of putting oneself into, and remaining in, direct relation with God, the Absolute, or a...

(Encyclopedia) strategy and tactics, in warfare, related terms referring, respectively, to large-scale and small-scale planning to achieve military success. Strategy may be defined as the general scheme of the condu...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Mirror arrangements for a reflecting telescope telescope, traditionally, a system of lenses, mirrors, or both, used to gather light from a distant object and form an image of it. Traditional o...