Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Martinson, Helga Maria (Moa) mo͞oˈə märtĭnso͞onˈ [key], 1890–1964, Swedish novelist and poet. The mother of five children before she was 25, Martinson began writing late; her first novel was ...

(Encyclopedia) Wyler, William, 1902–1981, American film director, producer, and writer, b. Mülhausen, Germany (now Mulhouse, France) as Willi Wilder. He came to the United States (1920) at the invitation of Carl ...

(Encyclopedia) stuttering or stammering, speech disorder marked by hesitation and inability to enunciate consonants without spasmodic repetition. Known technically as dysphemia, it has sometimes been attributed to a...

(Encyclopedia) sweating system, method of exploiting labor by supplying materials to workers and paying by the piece (see piecework) for work done on those materials in the workers' homes or in small workshops (swea...

(Encyclopedia) Klamath klămˈəth [key], Native North Americans who in the 19th cent. lived in SW Oregon. They speak a language of the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American l...

(Encyclopedia) folk dance, primitive, tribal, or ethnic form of the dance, sometimes the survival of some ancient ceremony or festival. The term is used also to include characteristic national dances, country dances...

(Encyclopedia) incubus ĭngˈkyo͝obəs [key], lascivious male demon said to possess mortal women as they sleep and to be responsible for the birth of demons, witches, and deformed children. According to one legend ...

(Encyclopedia) Vineland, city (1990 pop. 54,780), Cumberland co., S N.J., in a poultry and fruit area; settled 1861, inc. 1952 when combined with Landis township. The growing city has cooperative markets, large glas...

(Encyclopedia) mental retardation, below average level of intellectual functioning, usually defined by an IQ of below 70 to 75, combined with limitations in the skills necessary for daily living. Daily living skills...

(Encyclopedia) patristic literature, Christian writings of the first few centuries. They are chiefly in Greek and Latin; there is analogous writing in Syriac and in Armenian. The first period of patristic literature...