Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Syracuse sĭrˈəkyo͞os, –kyo͞oz [key], Ital. Siracusa, city (1991 pop. 125,941), capital of Syracuse prov., SE Sicily, Italy, on the Ionian Sea. It has a port and is a market and tourist center. ...

(Encyclopedia) Shelley, Percy Bysshe bĭsh [key], 1792–1822, English poet, b. Horsham, Sussex. He is ranked as one of the great English poets of the romantic period. Most of Shelley's poetry reveals his philos...

(Encyclopedia) classicism, a term that, when applied generally, means clearness, elegance, symmetry, and repose produced by attention to traditional forms. It is sometimes synonymous with excellence or artistic qual...

(Encyclopedia) transmigration of souls or metempsychosis mətĕmˌsəkōˈsĭs [key] [Gr.,=change of soul], a belief common to many cultures, in which the soul passes from one body to another, either human, animal, ...

(Encyclopedia) grammar, description of the structure of a language, consisting of the sounds (see phonology); the meaningful combinations of these sounds into words or parts of words, called morphemes; and the arran...

(Encyclopedia) sociology, scientific study of human social behavior. As the study of humans in their collective aspect, sociology is concerned with all group activities—economic, social, political, and religious. ...

(Encyclopedia) Greek literature, ancient, the writings of the ancient Greeks. The Greek Isles are recognized as the birthplace of Western intellectual life. The next period of Greek literature reached its zenith i...

(Encyclopedia) philosophy [Gr.,=love of wisdom], study of the ultimate reality, causes, and principles underlying being and thinking. It has many aspects and different manifestations according to the problems involv...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 element, in chemistry, a substance that cannot be decomposed into simpler substances by chemical means. A substance such as a compound can be decomposed into its constituent elements by means o...

(Encyclopedia) Manichaeism mănĭkēˈənĭzəm [key], religion founded by Mani (c.216–c.276). Several Christian emperors, including Justinian, published edicts against the Manichees. St. Augustine, in his yout...