Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) abracadabra ăbˌrəkədăbˈrə [key], magical formula used by the Gnostics (see Gnosticism) to invoke the aid of benevolent spirits to ward off disease and affliction. It is supposed to be derived f...

(Encyclopedia) Anne, Saint, in tradition, mother of the Virgin and wife of St. Joachim. She is not mentioned in Scripture, but her cult is very old. In the West she has been especially popular since the Middle Ages....

(Encyclopedia) Kirkcaldy kərkôˈdē, –kôlˈ– [key], town (1991 pop. 46,356) and district, Fife, E Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. Industries textiles and furniture manufacture and light electrical engineerin...

(Encyclopedia) Walafrid Strabo (Walafrid the Squinter), c.809–849, German scholar, b. Swabia. Educated at the abbey of Reichenau, he wrote, at 18, a Latin verse account of a journey to the hereafter, Visio Wettini...

(Encyclopedia) Zunz, Leopold lāˈōpôlt tso͝ontsˈ [key], 1794–1886, German Jewish scholar. His critical research on Judaism became one of the cornerstones of the “science of Judaism,” the modern approach o...

(Encyclopedia) Ribe rēˈbə [key], city (1992 pop. 7,892), capital of Ribe co., SW Denmark, on the Ribe River. One of the oldest cities of Denmark, Ribe was mentioned in the 9th cent. and became an episcopal see in...

(Encyclopedia) Acrocorinthus ăkˌrōkərĭnˈthəs [key], acropolis, or citadel, of Corinth, overlooking the ancient city. Some ruins of the acropolis remain. The Acrocorinthus was the site of a temple of Aphrodite...

(Encyclopedia) Randers räˈnərs [key], city (1992 pop. 55,358), Aarhus co., N central Denmark, a seaport at the mouth of the Gudenå River in the Randers Fjord (an arm of the Kattegat). It is a commercial and indu...

(Encyclopedia) Andelys, Les lāzäNdəlēˈ [key], town (1993 est. pop. 8,580), in Eure dept., N France, Normandy, on the Seine. The twin communities of Grand-Andely and Petit-Andely form a commercial center, with a...

(Encyclopedia) Gurney, A. R. (Albert Ramsdell Gurney, Jr.), 1930–2017, American dramatist, b. Buffalo, N.Y., B.A. Williams College, 1952, M.F.A. Yale School of Drama, 1958. He is best known for often humorous anal...