Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Midrash mĭdˈräsh [key] [Heb.,=to examine, to investigate], verse by verse interpretation of Hebrew Scriptures, consisting of homily and exegesis, by Jewish teachers since about 400 b.c. Distinction...

(Encyclopedia) Paris, University of, at Paris, France; founded 12th cent., confirmed 1215 by papal bull. The most famous of its colleges was the Sorbonne, which opened in 1253 and gained academic and theological dis...

(Encyclopedia) A Coruña lä kōro͞oˈnyä [key], city (2020 est. pop. 247,604), capital of A Coruña prov., NW Spain, in Galicia. It is a busy Atlantic port, a distribution center for ...

(Encyclopedia) Modena môˈdānä [key], city (1991 pop. 176,990), capital of Modena prov., Emilia-Romagna, N central Italy, on the Panaro River. It is an agricultural, commercial, and major industrial center. Manuf...

(Encyclopedia) Durham, officially County Durham, county, 1,015 sq mi (2,629 sq km), NE England, on the North Sea between the Tees and Tyne rivers; administratively...

(Encyclopedia) Boethius bōēsˈ [key] (Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius), c.475–525, Roman philosopher and statesman. An honored figure in the public life of Rome, where he was consul in 510, he became the able...

(Encyclopedia) cloth of gold, fabric woven wholly or partly of gold threads. From remote times gold has been used as material for weaving either alone or with other fibers. In India tapestries were made from gold th...

(Encyclopedia) Cluj-Napoca klo͞ozh-näpō [key], Hung. Kolozsvár, Ger. Klausenburg, city, W central Ro...

(Encyclopedia) Rottweiler rŏtˈwīlər [key], breed of sturdy working dog developed from a Roman cattle dog introduced into S Germany more than 1,900 years ago. It stands from 213⁄4 to 27 in. (55.3–68.6 cm) hig...

(Encyclopedia) baptistery băpˈtĭstrē [key], part of a church, or a separate building in connection with it, used for administering baptism. In the earliest examples it was merely a basin or pool set into the flo...