Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Shop

0-9

Aeolis ... Afonso IV

Aeolis: group of ancient cities on the west coast of Anatolia, which were founded at the end of the 2nd millennium BC by Greeks speaking an Aeolic dialect. The earliest settlements, ...
Aeolus: in Greek mythology, mythical king of Magnesia in Thessaly, the son of Hellen (the eponymous ancestor of the true Greeks, or Hellenes) and father of Sisyphus (the "most crafty of ...
Aeolus: in the works of Homer, controller of the winds and ruler of the floating island of Aeolia. In the Odyssey he gave Odysseus a favourable wind and a bag in ...
aeon: (Greek: "age," or "lifetime"), in Gnosticism and Manichaeism, one of the orders of spirits, or spheres of being, that emanated from the Godhead and were attributes of the nature of ...
Aepinus, Franz Maria Ulrich Theodor Hoch: physicist whose Tentamen theoriae electricitatis et magnetismi (1759; "An Attempt at a Theory of Electricity and Magnetism") was the first work to apply mathematics to the theory of electricity and ...
Aepyornis: extinct genus of giant flightless birds found as fossils in Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene deposits on the island of Madagascar. The remains of Aepyornis are abundant. The several known species were ...
Aequi: ancient people of Italy originally inhabiting the region watered by the tributaries of the Avens River (modern Velino). Long hostile to Rome, they became especially menacing in the 5th century ...
Aer Lingus: national airline of Ireland, comprising two government-owned companies: (1) Aer Lingus Teoranta, incorporated in 1936 and operating air services within Ireland and between Ireland and Britain and continental Europe, and ...
aerarium: treasury of ancient Rome, housed in the Temple of Saturn and the adjacent tabularium (record office) in the Forum. Under the republic (c. 509-27 BC) it was managed by two ...
aerial perspective: method of creating the illusion of depth, or recession, in a painting or drawing by modulating colour to simulate changes effected by the atmosphere on the colours of things seen ...
aerial photography: technique of photographing the Earth's surface or features of its atmosphere or hydrosphere with cameras mounted on aircraft, rockets, or Earth-orbiting satellites and other spacecraft.
aerobatics: maneuvers in which an aircraft is flown under precise control in unusual attitudes (the position of an aircraft determined by the relationship between its axes and a reference such as ...
aerobics: system of physical conditioning that increases the efficiency of the body's intake of oxygen, thereby stimulating the cardiovascular system, developing endurance, and reducing body fat. Increased energy, lower blood pressure ...
aerodynamics: branch of physics that deals with the motion of air and other gaseous fluids and with the forces acting on bodies passing through such a fluid. Aerodynamics seeks, in particular, ...
Aeroflot: Russian airline that was formerly the national airline of the Soviet Union.
aerophone: any of a class of musical instruments in which a vibrating mass of air produces the initial sound. The basic types include woodwind, brass, and free-reed instruments, as well as ...
Aerosmith: American heavy metal band. One of the biggest arena-rock attractions of the late 1970s, Aerosmith became even more popular with its career revival in the mid-1980s. Principal members were Steven ...
aerosol: a system of liquid or solid particles uniformly distributed in a finely divided state through a gas, usually air. Aerosol particles play an important role in the precipitation process, providing ...
aerosol container: any package, usually a metal can or plastic bottle, designed to dispense its liquid contents as a mist or foam. This type of container was developed in 1941 by the ...
aerospace engineering: field of engineering concerned with the design, development, construction, testing, and operation of vehicles operating in the Earth's atmosphere or in outer space. In 1958 the first definition of aerospace ...
aerospace industry: assemblage of manufacturing concerns that deal with vehicular flight within and beyond the Earth's atmosphere. (The term aerospace is derived from the words aeronautics and spaceflight.) The aerospace industry is ...
aerospace medicine: specialized branch of medical science concerned with those medical problems encountered in human flight in the atmosphere (aviation medicine) and beyond the atmosphere (space medicine).
Aeschbacher, Hans: Swiss sculptor of severe and massive abstract forms.
Aeschines: Athenian orator who advocated peace with Philip II of Macedonia and who was a bitter political opponent of the statesman Demosthenes.
Aeschylus: first of classical Athens' great tragic dramatists, who raised that emerging art to great heights of poetry and theatrical power.
Aesir: in Scandinavian mythology, either of two main groups of deities, four of whom were common to the Germanic nations: Odin (q.v.), chief of the Aesir; Frigg (q.v.), Odin's wife; Tyr ...
Aesop: the supposed author of a collection of Greek fables, almost certainly a legendary figure. Various attempts were made in ancient times to establish him as an actual personage. Herodotus in ...
Aesopus, Claudius: most eminent of the Roman tragedians, contemporary and intimate friend of Cicero, whom he instructed in elocution, and regarded by Horace as the equal of the great Roman comic actor ...
aesthetic distance: the frame of reference that an artist creates by the use of technical devices in and around the work of art to differentiate it psychologically from reality. German playwright Bertolt ...
Aestheticism: late 19th-century European arts movement which centred on the doctrine that art exists for the sake of its beauty alone, and that it need serve no political, didactic, or other ...
aesthetics: the philosophical study of beauty and taste. To define its subject matter more precisely is, however, immensely difficult. Indeed, it could be said that self-definition has been the major task ...
Aeterni Patris: an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on Aug. 4, 1879, which strengthened the position of the philosophical system of the medieval Scholastic philosopher-theologian St. Thomas Aquinas and soon made ...
Aethelbald: king of Wessex (from 855/856), the son of Aethelwulf, with whom he led the West Saxons to victory against the Danes at Aclea (851). He reportedly rebelled against his father ...
Aethelbald: king of the Mercians from 716, who became the chief king of a confederation including all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms between the River Humber and the English Channel. His predominance was ...
Aethelberht: king of the West Saxons, or Wessex, who succeeded to the subkingdom of Kent during the lifetime of his father Aethelwulf and retained it until the death of his elder ...
Aethelberht I: king of Kent (560-616) who issued the first extant code of Anglo-Saxon laws, a code that established the legal position of the clergy and many secular regulations. Aethelberht's marriage to ...
Aethelflaed: Anglo-Saxon ruler of Mercia in England.
Aethelfrith: king of Bernicia (from 592/593) and of Deira, which together formed Northumbria.
Aetheling: in Anglo-Saxon England, generally any person of noble birth. Use of the term was usually restricted to members of a royal family, and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it is used ...
Aethelred: king of Mercia, who was a benefactor of many churches in his several provinces and at last retired to a monastery.
Aethelred I: king of Wessex and of Kent (865/866-871), son of Aethelwulf of Wessex.
Aethelweard: English chronicler and ealderman of the western provinces (probably the whole of Wessex), a descendant of King Alfred's brother Aethelred. He wrote, in elaborate and peculiar Latin, a chronicle for ...
Aethelwulf: Anglo-Saxon king in England, the father of King Alfred the Great. As ruler of the West Saxons from 839 to 856, he allied his kingdom of Wessex with Mercia and ...
Aethra: in Greek mythology, daughter of King Pittheus of Troezen, who married her to Aegeus, king of Athens. She became mother of Theseus by Aegeus or by Poseidon, who had ravished ...
Aetius: Syrian bishop and heretic who, during the theological controversies over the Christian Trinity, founded the extreme Arian sect of the Anomoeans (q.v.). His name became a byword for radical heresy.
Aetius, Flavius: Roman general and statesman who was the dominating influence over Valentinian III (emperor 425-455).
Aetolia: district of ancient Greece, located directly north of the Gulf of Corinth and bounded by Epirus (north), Locris (east), and Acarnania (west). In modern Greece, Aetolia is linked with Acarnania ...
Aetolia and Acarnania: nomos (department) in west central Greece, with an area of 2,103 square miles (5,447 square km); the capital of the department is Mesolongion on the Patraikos Kolpos ...
Aetolian League: federal state or "sympolity" of Aetolia, in ancient Greece. Probably based on a looser tribal community, it was well-enough organized to conduct negotiations with Athens in 367 BC. It became ...
Afanasev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich: historian and scholar of Russian folklore known for his compilation of Russian folktales.
Afar: a people of the Horn of Africa who speak Saho, a language of the Eastern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) family. They live in northeastern Ethiopia and in ...
Affair of the Diamond Necklace: scandal at the court of Louis XVI in 1785 that discredited the French monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution. It began as an intrigue on the part of ...
affections, doctrine of the: theory of musical aesthetics, widely accepted by late Baroque theorists and composers, that embraced the proposition that music is capable of arousing a variety of specific emotions within the listener. ...
affective disorder: mental disorder characterized by dramatic changes or extremes of mood. Affective disorders may include manic (elevated, expansive, or irritable mood with hyperactivity, pressured speech, and inflated self-esteem) or depressive (dejected ...
affective fallacy: according to the followers of New Criticism, the misconception that arises from judging a poem by the emotional effect that it produces in the reader. The concept of affective fallacy ...
Affenkapelle ware: (German: "Monkey Orchestra"), a series of figures created by the Meissen porcelain factory in Saxony (now in Germany) about 1747 and imitated later. Believed to be a parody of the ...
affenpinscher: breed of toy dog known since the 17th century. It is thought to have originated in Germany, where it was bred to be a ratter-to kill rats, mice, and other ...
affidavit: a written statement of fact made voluntarily, confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it, and signed before a notary or other officer empowered to administer such ...
affirmation: in law, a promise by a witness concerning testimony allowed in place of an oath to those who cannot, because of conscience, swear an oath. For example, members of the ...
affirmative action: in the United States, an active effort to improve employment or educational opportunities for members of minority groups and for women. Affirmative action began as a government remedy to the ...
affix: a grammatical element that is combined with a word, stem, or phrase to produce derived and inflected forms. There are three types of affixes: prefixes, infixes, and suffixes. A prefix ...
Affleck, Thomas: American cabinetmaker considered to be outstanding among the Philadelphia craftsmen working in the Chippendale style during the 18th century.
Affre, Denis-Auguste: prelate, archbishop of Paris, and opponent of King Louis-Philippe, remembered for his brave attempt to end the June 1848 riots, in which he was accidentally slain.
affreightment: contract for carriage of goods by water, "freight" being the price paid for the service of carriage. Such contracts are of immense importance to the world economy, forming the legal ...
affricate: a consonant sound that begins as a stop (sound with complete obstruction of the breath stream) and concludes with a fricative (sound with incomplete closure and a sound of friction). ...
Afghan carpet: thick, heavy floor covering handwoven by Turkmen craftsmen in Afghanistan and adjacent parts of Uzbekistan. While most of the weavers could be broadly labeled Ersari Turkmen, rugs are also woven ...
Afghan hound: breed of dog developed as a hunter in the hill country of Afghanistan. It was once thought to have originated several thousand years ago in Egypt, but there is no ...
Afghan interlude: (1722-30), period in Iranian history that began with the Afghan conquest of Iran and ended with the defeat and death of the Afghan ruler Ashraf.
Afghan War: in the history of Afghanistan, the internal conflict (1978-92) between anticommunist Muslim guerrillas and the Afghan communist government (aided in 1979-89 by Soviet troops). More broadly, the term also encompasses ...
Afghanistan: landlocked, multiethnic country located in the heart of south-central Asia. Lying along important trade routes connecting southern and eastern Asia to Europe and the Middle East, Afghanistan has long been ...
Aflaq, Michel: social and political leader who played a major role in the Arab nationalist movement during and after World War II.
Afonso I: the first king of Portugal (1139-85), who conquered Santarem and Lisbon from the Muslims (1147) and secured Portuguese independence from Leon (1139).
Afonso I: ruler of the Kongo Kingdom (in present Congo [Kinshasa] and Angola), the first of a line of Portuguese vassal kings that lasted until the early 20th century.
Afonso II: the third king of Portugal (1211-23), under whom the reconquest of the south from the Muslims was continued.
Afonso III: fifth king of Portugal (1248-79), who supplanted his brother, King Sancho II, and completed the reconquest of the Algarve from the Muslims.
Afonso IV: seventh king of Portugal (1325-57).