Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) primogeniture, in law, the rule of inheritance whereby land descends to the oldest son. Under the feudal system of medieval Europe, primogeniture generally governed the inheritance of land held in mil...

(Encyclopedia) Townsend, Francis Everett tounˈzənd [key], 1867–1960, American reformer, leader of an old-age pension movement, b. Fairbury, Ill., grad. Univ. of Nebraska medical school, 1903. He practiced medici...

(Encyclopedia) Ronaldo, Cristiano (Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro), 1985–, Portuguese soccer player. A forward, he began professional play in 2001 with Sporting Portugal. With Manchester United from 2003, he ...

(Encyclopedia) Ramos, Fidel Valdez fēdĕlˈ väldĕsˈ räˈmōs [key], 1928–, Philippine general and politician, president of the Philippines (1992–98), b. Lingayen. A career army officer, he became deputy chi...

(Encyclopedia) pawnbroker, one who makes loans on personal effects that are left as security. The practice of pawnbroking is ancient, as is recognition of the danger it involves of oppressing the poor. In fact, the ...

(Encyclopedia) aristocracy ărˌĭstŏkˈrəsē [key] [Gr.,=rule by the best], in political science, government by a social elite. In the West the political concept of aristocracy derives from Plato's formulation in...

(Encyclopedia) business cycles, fluctuations in economic activity characterized by periods of rising and falling fiscal health. During a business cycle, an economy grows, reaches a peak, and then begins a downturn f...

(Encyclopedia) homelessness, the condition of not having a permanent place to live, widely perceived as a societal problem only beginning in the 1980s. Figures for the number of homeless people in the United States ...

(Encyclopedia) Crow, indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages) and who call themselves the Absaroka, or bird ...

(Encyclopedia) aids, in feudalism, type of feudal due paid by a vassal to his suzerain (overlord). Aids varied with time and place, although in English-speaking countries aids were traditionally due on the knighting...