Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Serbo-Croatian sûrˈbō-krōāˈshən [key], language belonging to the South Slavic group of the Slavic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Slavic languages). Serbo-Croatian compr...

(Encyclopedia) Sand, George ämäNdēnˈ ôrôrˈ lüsēˈ düpăN, bärônˈ düdväNˈ [key], 1804–76, French novelist. Other variant forms of her maiden name include Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin. Born of an ari...

(Encyclopedia) Eucharist yo͞oˈkərĭst [key] [Gr.,=thanksgiving], Christian sacrament that repeats the action of Jesus at his last supper with his disciples, when he gave them bread, saying, “This is my body,”...

(Encyclopedia) Paul, Saint, d. a.d. 64? or 67?, the apostle to the Gentiles, b. Tarsus, Asia Minor. He was a Jew. His father was a Roman citizen, probably of some means, and Paul was a tentmaker by trade. His Jewish...

(Encyclopedia) Han hän [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 202 b.c. to a.d. 220. Liu Pang, the first Han emperor, had been a farmer, minor village official, and guerrilla fighter under the Ch'in dynasty. During...

(Encyclopedia) Bellini jōvänˈnē [key], c.1430–1516, who was first active in Padua where he worked with his father and brother. Also influenced by Mantegna, who became his brother-in-law in 1454, Giovanni paint...

(Encyclopedia) Ruth, Babe (George Herman Ruth), 1895–1948, American baseball player, considered by many the greatest of all baseball players, b. Baltimore. Ruth, a left hander, proved to be (1914–19) a formida...

(Encyclopedia) monarchy, form of government in which sovereignty is vested in a single person whose right to rule is generally hereditary and who is empowered to remain in office for life. The power of this sovereig...

(Encyclopedia) depression, in economics, period of economic crisis in commerce, finance, and industry, characterized by falling prices, restriction of credit, low output and investment, numerous bankruptcies, and a ...

(Encyclopedia) Anselm, Saint ănˈsĕlm [key], 1033?–1109, prelate in Normandy and England, archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor of the Church (1720), b. Aosta, Piedmont. After a carefree youth of travel and schooling...