Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Turnbull, Malcolm Bligh, 1954–, Australian political leader, b. Sidney. Educated at the Univ. of Sidney and, as a Rhodes scholar, at Oxford, he practised law and was a journalist and a successful bu...

(Encyclopedia) riddle, puzzling question, specifically one that consists of a fanciful description or definition of something to be guessed. A famous riddle was asked by the Sphinx: “What goes on four legs in the ...

(Encyclopedia) commutation of sentence, in criminal law, reduction of a sentence for a criminal act by action of the executive head of the government. Like pardon, commutation of sentence is a matter of grace, not o...

(Encyclopedia) Advent [Lat.,=coming], season of the Christian ecclesiastical year preceding Christmas, lasting in the West from the Sunday nearest Nov. 30 (St. Andrew's Day) until Christmas Eve. In the Roman Catholi...

(Encyclopedia) Wierzyński, Kazimierz käzēˈmyĕsh vyĕzhĭˈnyəskē [key], 1894–1969, Polish poet and journalist. Wierzyński was a cofounder with Julian Tuwim of the Skamander group of experimental poets. His...

(Encyclopedia) scherzo skĕrˈtsō [key] [Ital.,=joke], in music, term denoting various types of composition, primarily one that is lively and presents surprises in the rhythmic or melodic material. In 1607 a group ...

(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) Mignard, Pierre pyĕr mēnyärˈ [key], 1612–95, French painter. In 1657 he was summoned by Louis XIV to portray the king and celebrities of the court. In 1664 he decorated, in fresco, the cupola of...

(Encyclopedia) Mostel, Zero mŏsˌtĕlˈ [key], 1915–77, American actor, b. New York City as Samuel Joel Mostel. Mostel made his Broadway debut in Keep 'Em Laughing (1942). A comic actor with an expressive face, h...