Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) sin, in religion, unethical act. The term implies disobedience to a personal God, as in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and is not used so often in systems such as Buddhism where there is no persona...

(Encyclopedia) Lincoln, Mary Todd, 1818–82, wife of Abraham Lincoln, b. Lexington, Ky. Of a good Kentucky family, she was living with her sister, daughter-in-law of Gov. Ninian Edwards of Illinois, in Springfield,...

(Encyclopedia) myna or mynah both: mīˈnə [key], common name for any of a number of species of Asian starlings found chiefly in India and Sri Lanka, some of which are known for vocal mimicry. Most familiar is the ...

(Encyclopedia) Magnus I (Magnus the Good), 1024–47, king of Norway (1035–47) and Denmark (1042–47), son of Olaf II. He was recalled from exile in 1035 by the former opponents of Olaf when they rebelled against...

(Encyclopedia) O'Connor, Flannery (Mary Flannery O'Connor), 1925–64, American author, b. Savannah, Ga., grad. Women's College of Georgia (A.B., 1945), Iowa State Univ. (M.F.A., 1947). As a writer, O'Connor is high...

(Encyclopedia) Piscator, Erwin pĭskäˈtôr [key], 1893–1966, German theatrical director and producer who, with Bertolt Brecht, was the foremost exponent of epic theater, a genre that emphasizes the sociopolitica...

(Encyclopedia) mountain beaver, stout, short-limbed North American rodent, Aplodontia rufa, not closely related to the true beaver. Also called sewellel beaver after the Chinook word for a robe made from its pelts, ...

(Encyclopedia) De Vinne, Theodore Low də vĭnˈē [key], 1828–1914, American printer, b. Stamford, Conn. He learned his trade in the office of the Newburgh (N.Y.) Gazette and in 1848 entered the shop of Francis H...

(Encyclopedia) dandelion [Eng. form of Fr.,=lion's tooth], any plant of the genus Taraxacum of the family Asteraceae (aster family), perennial herbs of wide distribution in temperate regions. The dandelion has a ros...

(Encyclopedia) antifreeze, substance added to a solvent to lower its freezing point. The solution formed is called an antifreeze mixture. Antifreeze is typically added to water in the cooling system of an internal-c...