Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Basilian monks bəzĭlˈēən [key], monks primarily of the Eastern Church. They follow the Rule of St. Basil the Great, which has been universal among them since the 7th cent. They have no centralize...

(Encyclopedia) Xi shē jyäng [key], great river of S China, c.1,250 mi (2,010 km) long, rising in E Yunnan prov. and flowing generally E through Guangxi and Guangdong provs. to the South China Sea near Guangzhou; t...

(Encyclopedia) Stilwell, Joseph Warren, 1883–1946, American general, b. Palatka, Fla. Commissioned in the army in 1904, he fought in World War I and later served for 13 years in China. In Feb., 1942, during World ...

(Encyclopedia) trickster, a mythic figure common among Native North Americans, South Americans, and Africans. Usually male but occasionally female or disguised in female form, he is notorious for exaggerated biologi...

(Encyclopedia) bestiary bĕsˈchēĕrˌē [key], a type of medieval book that was widely popular, particularly from the 12th to 14th cent. The bestiary presumed to describe the animals of the world and to show what ...

(Encyclopedia) Robertson, Sir William Robert, 1860–1933, British field marshal. He enlisted in the army in 1877 and became an officer in 1888. He was in the intelligence department in India (1892–96) and served ...

(Encyclopedia) Szeged sĕˈgĕd [key], city (1991 est. pop. 176,100), S Hungary, at the confluence of the Tisza and Maros rivers. It is a river port, a railroad hub, and an agricultural center. Famous for its paprik...

(Encyclopedia) Spree shprā [key], river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, rising in the Lausitz Mts., E Central Germany, near the Czech Republic border. It flows N past Cottbus, then NW through the Spree Forest, and from th...

(Encyclopedia) Goethals, George Washington gōˈthəlz [key], 1858–1928, U.S. army engineer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. West Point, 1880. After serving on various inland water projects, he was appointed chief engine...

(Encyclopedia) Gorgas, Josiah gôrˈgəs [key], 1818–83, chief of ordnance in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, b. Dauphin co., Pa.; father of William Crawford Gorgas. He was commissioned in the ...