Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) arrhythmia ārĭᵺˈmēə [key], disturbance in the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. Various arrhythmias can be symptoms of serious heart disorders; however, they are usually of no medical significan...

(Encyclopedia) Walton and Weybridge wāˈbrĭj [key], city (19981 pop. 50,031), Surrey, SE England. It is largely a residential suburb of London. There is market gardening, an aircraft works, and other industries. ...

(Encyclopedia) supply and demand, in classical economics, factors that are said to determine price, by correlating the amount of a given commodity producers hope to sell at a certain price (supply), and the amount o...

(Encyclopedia) Troilus and Cressida troiˈləs, krĕsˈĭdə [key], a medieval romance distantly related to characters in Greek legend. Troilus, a Trojan prince (son of Priam and Hecuba), fell in love with Cressida ...

(Encyclopedia) Ashkenaz ăshˈkēnăzˌ [key], eponym of a people perhaps localized in Armenia. He was grandson of Japheth. Gen. 10.3. Ashchenaz: 1 Chron. 1.6; Jer. 51.27. In modern times the term Ashkenazim refers ...

(Encyclopedia) oxidation and reduction, complementary chemical reactions characterized by the loss or gain, respectively, of one or more electrons by an atom or molecule. Originally the term oxidation was used to re...

(Encyclopedia) Motherwell and Wishaw wĭshˈô [key], town (1991 pop. 30,616), North Lanarkshire, S central Scotland. The two parts of the town were united in 1920. Formerly a center of heavy industry (coal and stee...

(Encyclopedia) Jachin and Boaz bōˈăz [key], in the Bible, two pillars in front of Solomon's Temple, probably symbolic of God's presence. ...

(Encyclopedia) husband and wife, the legal aspects of the married state (for the sociological aspects, see marriage). The former Anglo-American law of marriage was chiefly characterized by the view that husband an...

(Encyclopedia) parent and child, legal relationship, created by biological (birth) relationship or by adoption, that confers certain rights and duties on parent and child; in some states the courts have given the no...