Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) woman suffrage, the right of women to vote. Throughout the latter part of the 19th cent. the issue of women's voting rights was an important phase of feminism. On the European mainland, Finland (1...

(Encyclopedia) symphony [Gr.,=sounding together], a sonata for orchestra. The Italian operatic overture, called sinfonia, was standardized by Alessandro Scarlatti at the end of the 17th cent. into three sections, th...

(Encyclopedia) musicals, earlier known as musical comedies, plays that incorporate music, song, and dance. These elements move with the plot, heightening and commenting on the action. Mixing the sprightly songs and ...

(Encyclopedia) secret police, policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures. Many states, including Chile, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Romania,...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 External anatomy of a female grasshopper, representative of the class Insecta insect, invertebrate animal of the class Insecta of the phylum Arthropoda. Like other arthropods, an insect has a ...

(Encyclopedia) contemporary art, the art of the late 20th cent. and early 21st cent., both an outgrowth and a rejection of modern art. As the force and vigor of abstract expressionism diminished, new artistic moveme...

(Encyclopedia) union, labor, association of workers for the purpose of improving their economic status and working conditions through collective bargaining with employers. Historically there have been two chief type...

(Encyclopedia) Washington, D.C., capital of the United States, coextensive (since 1878, when Georgetown became a part of Washington) with the District of ...

(Encyclopedia) Indian art and architecture, works of art and architecture produced on the Indian subcontinent, which is now divided among India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In the Western world, notable collections of...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Maryland mârˈələnd [key], one of the Middle Atlantic states of the United States. It is bounded by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean (E), the District of Columbia (S), Virginia and West Virgi...