Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) bursitis bərsīˈtəs [key], acute or chronic inflammation of a bursa, or fluid sac, located close to a joint. In response to irritation or injury the bursa may become inflamed, causing pain, restric...

(Encyclopedia) chimpanzee, an ape, genus Pan, of the equatorial forests of central and W Africa. Smaller populations are also found in the savannas of the same regions. The common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, lives ...

(Encyclopedia) Lukashenko, Aleksandr Grigoryevich əlyĭksänˈdər grĭgôrˈyəvĭch lo͞okäshĕnˈkô [key], Belarusian Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka, 1954–, Belarusian politician, president of Belarus (199...

(Encyclopedia) Babylonian captivity, in the history of Israel, the period from the fall of Jerusalem (586 b.c.) to the reconstruction in Palestine of a new Jewish state (after 538 b.c.). After the capture of the cit...

(Encyclopedia) Maitland, William (Maitland of Lethington), 1528?–1573, Scottish statesman. In 1559 he deserted the regent Mary of Guise and joined the revolt of the Protestant nobles. When Mary Queen of Scots retu...

(Encyclopedia) Ireland, John īrˈlənd [key], 1838–1918, American Roman Catholic prelate, first archbishop of St. Paul, Minn. (1888–1918), b. Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. He emigrated to St. Paul in childhood. He was...

(Encyclopedia) Nikolić, Tomislav ämˈēsläv nēˈkōlĭch [key], 1952–, Serbian political leader. A construction executive, he entered politics in the 1990s, becoming a member of the ultranationalist Serbian Ra...

(Encyclopedia) Osceola ŏsēōˈlə, ō– [key], c.1800–1838, leader of the Seminole. He was also called Powell, the surname of his supposed white father. In the early 1830s, Osceola was living close to Fort King...

(Encyclopedia) phylloxera fĭlŏkˈsĭrə [key], small, sap-eating, greenish insect of the genus Phylloxera, closely related to the aphid. Phylloxeras feed on leaves and roots, and many species produce galls on deci...

(Encyclopedia) atomic mass, the mass of a single atom, usually expressed in atomic mass units (amu). Most of the mass of an atom is concentrated in the protons and neutrons contained in the nucleus. Each proton or n...