Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. Prostitution in A...

(Encyclopedia) Catholic University of America, at Washington, D.C.; the national university of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States; coeducational; founded 1887 and opened 1889. It includes a college of ar...

(Encyclopedia) Gujral, Inder Kumar, 1919–2012, Indian political leader, prime minister of India (1997–98), b. Jhelum, British India (now in Pakistan). Active in the Indian independence movement, he was a member ...

(Encyclopedia) decorations, civil and military, honors bestowed by a government to reward services or achievements, particularly those implying valor. The practice of bestowing such decorations dates back at least t...

(Encyclopedia) factory, place of production characterized by wage labor, the use of machinery, and the division of labor. The large-scale use of machinery differentiates factory production from simple manufacture, a...

(Encyclopedia) Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Rus. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, former republic. It was established in 1922 and dissolved in 1991. The Soviet Union was the first state...

(Encyclopedia) bankruptcy, in law, settlement of the liabilities of a person or organization wholly or partially unable to meet financial obligations. The purposes are to distribute, through a court-appointed receiv...

(Encyclopedia) International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), specialized agency of the United Nations. A member of the World Bank Group (see International Bank for Reconstruction and Developmen...

(Encyclopedia) United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the (UNHCR), established Dec. 14, 1950, by the General Assembly. It superseded the International Refugee Organization. It seeks permanent solut...

(Encyclopedia) mother-of-pearl or nacre nāˈkər [key], the iridescent substance that forms the lining of the shells of some fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks. Like the pearl it is a secretion of the mantle,...