Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) oak, any tree or shrub of the genus Quercus of the family Fagaceae (beech family). This complex genus includes as many as 600, found chiefly in north temperate zones and also in Polynesia. The more so...

(Encyclopedia) slime mold or slime fungus, a heterotrophic organism once regarded as a fungus but later classified with the Protista. In a recent system of classification based on analysis of nucleic acid (genetic m...

(Encyclopedia) Aholah əhōˈlə [key], in the Bible, the sisters in an allegory on Israel's idolatry. ...

(Encyclopedia) ratchet and pawl, mechanical device that permits motion in one direction only. The ratchet is usually a wheel with slanting teeth. The pawl is a lever tangential to the wheel with one end resting on t...

(Encyclopedia) atonality āˌtōnălˈĭtē [key], in music, systematic avoidance of harmonic or melodic reference to tonal centers (see key). The term is used to designate a method of composition in which the compo...

(Encyclopedia) Bozez sēˈnə, –nĕ [key], two cliffs at the entrance to the ravine of Michmash (now the Wadi Suweinet); they are mentioned in the First Book of Samuel. ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Pasture rose, Rosa carolina rose, common name for some members of the Rosaceae, a large family of herbs, shrubs, and trees distributed over most of the earth, and for plants of the genus Rosa,...

(Encyclopedia) Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, mainly at Baton Rouge; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1853, opened as a state seminary 1860 near Alexandri...

(Encyclopedia) American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, honorary academy of notable American artists, writers, and composers. The National Institute of Arts and Letters, founded in 1898, served as the par...

(Encyclopedia) anthropology, classification and analysis of humans and their society, descriptively, culturally, historically, and physically. Its unique contribution to studying the bonds of human social relations ...