Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) serval, medium-sized African cat, Leptailurus serval, found S of the Sahara in scrub country close to water. The serval is lightly built with very long legs; it has a small head with large eyes and ea...

(Encyclopedia) Gogarten, Friedrich, 1887–1968, German theologian. He was professor of theology at the Univ. of Jena from 1927 until 1933, when he began to teach at the Univ. of Göttingen. He adopted the anti-idea...

(Encyclopedia) Eton ēˈtən [key], town, Windsor and Maidenhead, central England, on the Thames River. It i...

(Encyclopedia) executive privilege, exemption of the executive branch of government, or its officers, from having to give evidence, specifically, in U.S. law, the exemption of the president from disclosing informati...

(Encyclopedia) plutonium plo͞otōˈnēəm [key], radioactive chemical element; symbol Pu; at. no. 94; mass no. of most stable isotope 244; m.p. 641℃; b.p. 3,232℃; sp. gr. 19.84 at 20℃; valence +3, +4, +5, or ...

(Encyclopedia) chancel, primarily that part of the church close to the altar and used by the officiating clergy. In the early churches it was separated from the nave by a low parapet or open railing (cancellus), its...

(Encyclopedia) Paston Letters, collection of personal and business correspondence, mostly among members of the Paston family of Norfolk, England. The letters cover the years from 1422 to 1529, together with deeds an...

(Encyclopedia) Norwich terrier, breed of small, sturdy terrier developed in England in the second half of the 19th cent. It stands about 10 in. (25.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs about 11 lb (4.9 kg). The har...

(Encyclopedia) Larkin, James, 1876–1947, Irish labor leader. The Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, which he organized and of which he was secretary, had as its goal the combining of all Irish industrial ...

(Encyclopedia) Laski, John yän lăsˈkē [key], Latin Johannes Alasco, 1499–1560, Polish Protestant reformer. A learned priest, he went in 1523 to Basel, where he was a close friend of Erasmus. After returning to...