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Amarna, Tell el- ... amercement

Amarna, Tell el-: site of the ruins and tombs of the city of Akhetaton ("Horizon of Aton") in Upper Egypt, 44 miles (71 km) north of modern Asyut in al-Minya muhafazah (governorate). On ...
Amaryllidaceae: family of perennial herbs in the flowering plant order Liliales, containing about 65 genera and at least 835 species, distributed primarily in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Members ...
Amasis Painter: ancient Greek vase painter who, with Exekias, was among the most accomplished of Archaic vase painters. He was responsible for the decoration of several of the black-figure amphorae (two-handled jars), ...
Amasya: city, capital of Amasya il (province), northern Turkey, on the Yesil River, also called the Iris River. Capital of the kings of Pontus until about 183 BC, it was made ...
Amaterasu: (Japanese: "Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven"), the celestial sun goddess from whom the Japanese imperial family claims descent, and an important Shinto deity. She was born from the left eye of ...
Amateur Athletic Association: British national governing organization for the sport of track and field (athletics). Founded in 1880, it took over as the governing power from the Amateur Athletic Club, founded in 1866. ...
Amateur Athletic Union of the United States: alliance of national and district associations, amateur athletic groups, and educational institutions formed in the United States in 1888 for the purpose of certifying athletes as amateurs in various sports. ...
amateur radio: noncommercial, two-way radio communications. Messages are sent either by voice or in International Morse Code.
Amathus: ancient city located near Limassol, Cyprus, among sandy hills and sand dunes, which may explain its name (Greek amathos, "sand"). Founded by the Phoenicians (c. 1500 BC), Amathus maintained strong ...
Amati Family: a family of celebrated Italian violin makers in Cremona in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Amatique Bay: inlet of the Gulf of Honduras in the Caribbean Sea, indenting eastern Guatemala and southeastern Belize (formerly British Honduras). Extending northwestward for about 40 miles (64 km) from Santo Tomas ...
Amatitlan, Lake: lake, south-central Guatemala, in the central highlands at 4,085 feet (1,248 m) above sea level. The volcanic lake, 130 feet (40 m) deep, is 7 miles (11 km) long and ...
Amazon: in Greek mythology, member of a race of women warriors. The story of the Amazons probably originated as a variant of a tale recurrent in many cultures, that of a ...
Amazon Rainforest: large, tropical rainforest occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America, and covering an area of 2,300,000 square miles (6,000,000 square km). Comprising ...
Amazon River: the greatest river of South America and the largest drainage system in the world in terms of the volume of its flow and the area of its basin. The total ...
Amazonas: largest estado ("state") of Brazil, situated in the northwestern part of the country. It is bounded to the northwest by Colombia, to the north by Venezuela and ...
Amazonas: departamento, southeastern Colombia, located in the warm, humid Amazon River basin. It is bounded on the northwest by the Caqueta River, on the northeast by the Apaporis ...
Amazonas: departamento (formed 1832), Nor Oriental del Maranon region, northern Peru, bounded on the north by Ecuador. It consists mostly of rainforest in the north, ...
Amazonas: estado ("state"), southern Venezuela. It is bounded on the north by the state of Bolivar, on the east and south by Brazil, and on the west by Colombia. The large ...
amazonstone: a gemstone variety of green microcline (q.v.), a feldspar mineral. Frequently confused with jade, amazonstone varies in colour from yellow-green to blue-green and may also exhibit fine white streaks; it ...
Amb: small frontier state, central North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. It became part of Pakistan in 1947 and lies on the west bank of the Indus River, 15 miles (24 km) north ...
Ambala: city, northeastern Haryana state, northwestern India, just east of the Ghaggar River. A major grain, cotton, and sugar trade centre, it is connected by road and rail with Delhi and ...
Ambartsumian, Viktor Amazaspovich: Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist best known for his theories concerning the origin and evolution of stars and stellar systems. He was also the founder of the school of theoretical astrophysics ...
ambassador: highest rank of diplomatic representative sent by one national government to another.
Ambato: city, central Ecuador. It lies along the Ambato River in an intermontane basin near the northeastern foot of Mount Chimborazo, at an elevation of about 8,500 feet (2,600 m) above ...
Ambedkar, Bhimrao Ramji: leader of the Harijans (untouchables or low-caste Hindus) and law minister of the government of India (1947-51).
amber: fossil tree resin that has achieved a stable state through loss of volatile constituents and chemical change after burial in the ground. Amber has been found throughout the world, but ...
Amber Valley: district, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England, to the north of Derby. It takes its name from the River Amber, which joins the Derwent at Ambergate. The industrial eastern ...
Amberg: city, Bavaria Land (state), southeastern Germany. It lies on the Vils River, in the foothills of the Franconian Jura Mountains and the Bavarian Forest, southeast of Nurnberg. ...
ambergris: a solid waxy substance originating in the intestine of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon). In Eastern cultures ambergris is used for medicines and potions and as a ...
amberina glass: blended colour glass in which the lower part, a yellowish amber, merges into a ruby-red colour higher in the vessel. It was patented in 1883 for the New England Glass ...
amberjack: any of several popular sport fishes. See jack.
ambiguity: use of words that allow alternative interpretations. In factual, explanatory prose, ambiguity is considered an error in reasoning or diction; in literary prose or poetry, it often functions to increase ...
Ambikapur: town, eastern Madhya Pradesh state, central India. The town, then known as Surguja, was the capital of the former Surguja princely state. Connected by road with Dharmjaygarh, Patna, and Sonhat, ...
Ambler, Eric: British author and screenwriter widely regarded as one of the most distinguished writers of espionage and crime stories.
amblygonite: phosphate mineral composed of lithium, sodium, and aluminum phosphate [(Li,Na)AlPO₄(F,OH)], that is an ore of lithium. It occurs in lithium- and phosphate-rich granitic pegmatites, often in very large, white, translucent ...
amblyopia: dimness of vision that may be gradual or sudden in onset and may affect both eyes or one. It may be transient or permanent and can develop into blindness. The ...
ambo: in the Christian liturgy, a raised stand formerly used for reading the Gospel or the Epistle, first used in early basilicas. Originally, the ambo took the form of a portable ...
Ambo: ethnolinguistic group located in the dry grassland country of northern Namibia and southern Angola. They are usually called Ovambo in Namibia and Ambo in Angola and speak Kwanyama, a Bantu ...
Amboina Massacre: execution that took place in Amboina (now Ambon, Indon.) in 1623, when 10 Englishmen, 10 Japanese, and one Portuguese were put to death by local Dutch authorities. The incident ended ...
Amboise: town, Indre-et-Loire departement, Centre-Val-de-Loire region, central France, on both banks of the Loire River, east of Tours. It is the site of a late ...
Amboise, Conspiracy of: abortive plot of young French Huguenot aristocrats in 1560 against the Catholic House of Guise.
Amboise, Georges d': cardinal and chief minister of the French state under King Louis XII, known for his domestic reforms and his role in Louis's Italian campaigns.
Ambon: island and municipality of Maluku propinsi (province), Indonesia. Ambon island is located 7 miles (11 km) off the southwestern coast of the island of Seram. Its 294 ...
Amboseli National Park: national park, southern Kenya, East Africa. Amboseli was originally established as a game reserve in 1948 and covered 1,259 sq mi (3,261 sq km), northwest of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Within ...
Ambridge: borough (town), Beaver county, western Pennsylvania, U.S., on the Ohio River, just northwest of Pittsburgh. Within its boundaries is the former village of Economy (1824-1904) established by the communal Harmony ...
Ambros, August Wilhelm: musicologist, author of Geschichte der Musik, a comprehensive history of music.
Ambrose d'vreux: Norman poet and chronicler, who accompanied Richard I of England as a minstrel on the Third Crusade. Nothing more is known of him than that he was probably a native ...
Ambrose Of Camaldoli: Humanist, ecclesiastic, and patristic translator who helped effect the brief reunion of the Eastern and Western churches in the 15th century. He entered the Camaldolese Order in 1400 at Florence, ...
Ambrose, Saint: bishop of Milan, biblical critic, and initiator of ideas that provided a model for medieval conceptions of church-state relations. His literary works have been acclaimed as masterpieces of Latin eloquence, ...
Ambrosian chant: monophonic, or unison, chant that accompanies the Latin mass and canonical hours of the Ambrosian rite. The word Ambrosian is derived from St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan (374-397), from which ...
Ambrosiaster: the name given to the author of a commentary on St. Paul's letters in the New Testament, long attributed to St. Ambrose (died 397), bishop of Milan. The work is ...
Ambrym: island of Vanuatu, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It has an area of 257 sq mi (665 sq km) and is known for its two active volcanoes: Mt. Marum, 4,167 ft (1,270 ...
ambulatory: in architecture, continuation of the aisled spaces on either side of the nave (central part of the church) around the apse (semicircular projection at the east end of the church) ...
ambush bug: any member of the insect family Phymatidae (order Heteroptera), which contains about 200 species, generally in the tropical Americas and Asia. As its common name indicates, the ambush bug hides ...
Amda Tseyon: ruler of Ethiopia from 1314 to 1344, best known in the chronicles as a heroic fighter against the Muslims; he is sometimes considered to have been the founder of the ...
Ameghino, Florentino: paleontologist, anthropologist, and geologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas rank with those made in the western United States during the late 19th century.
Amelanchier: genus of flowering shrubs and small trees of the rose family (Rosaceae), several species of which have entered cultivation as ornamental plants. Most species are North American; exceptions include the ...
Amelung glass: American glass produced from 1784 to about 1795 by John Frederick Amelung, a native of Bremen in Germany. Financed by German and American promoters, Amelung founded the New Bremen Glassmanufactory ...
amen: expression of agreement, confirmation, or desire used in worship by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The basic meaning of the Semitic root from which it is derived is "firm," "fixed," or ...
amendment: in government and law, an addition or alteration made to a constitution, statute, or legislative bill or resolution. Amendments can be made to existing constitutions and statutes and are also ...
Amendola, Giovanni: journalist, politician, and, in the early 1920s, foremost opponent of the Italian Fascists.
Amenemhet I: king of Egypt (reigned 1938-08 BC), founder of the 12th dynasty who, with a number of powerful nomarchs (provincial governors), restored unity to Egypt after the civil war that followed ...
Amenemhet II: king of Egypt (reigned 1876-42 BC), grandson of Amenemhet I (founder of the 12th dynasty). He furthered Egypt's trade relations and internal development.
Amenemhet III: king of Egypt (reigned 1818-1770 BC) of the 12th dynasty, who brought Middle Kingdom Egypt (comprising also the 11th and 13th dynasties) to a peak of economic prosperity by completing ...
Amenemope: ancient Egyptian author of The Instruction of Amenemope, probably composed during the late New Kingdom (1300-1075 BC). Amenemope's text, similar in content to most of the instruction or wisdom literature ...
Amenhotep I: king of Egypt (reigned 1514-1493 BC), son of Ahmose I, the founder of the 18th dynasty. He effectively extended Egypt's boundaries in Nubia (the modern Sudan).
Amenhotep II: king of Egypt (reigned c. 1426-1400 BC), son of Thutmose III. Ruling at the height of Egypt's imperial era, he strove to maintain his father's conquests by physical and military ...
Amenhotep III: king of Egypt (reigned 1390-53 BC) in a period of peaceful prosperity, who devoted himself to expanding diplomatic contacts and to extensive building in Egypt and Nubia.
Amenhotep, Son Of Hapu: high official of the reign of Amenhotep III of Egypt, who was greatly honoured by the king within his lifetime and was deified more than 1,000 years later during the ...
amenorrhea: failure to menstruate. Menstruation is the normal cyclic bleeding from the uterus in the female reproductive tract that occurs at approximately four-week intervals. Primary amenorrhea is the delay or failure ...
Amenouzume: in Japanese mythology, the celestial goddess who performed a spontaneous dance enticing the sun goddess Amaterasu out of the cave in which she had secluded herself and had thus deprived ...
amensalism: association between organisms of two different species in which one is inhibited or destroyed and the other is unaffected. There are two basic modes: competition (q.v.), in which a larger ...
Amer: town, east-central Rajasthan state, northwestern India. Amer is part of the Jaipur urban agglomeration and is noted for its magnificent palace. The town is entirely surrounded by hills and stands ...
Amerada Hess Corporation: integrated American petroleum company involved in exploration and development of oil and natural-gas resources, and the transportation, production, marketing, and sale of petroleum products. Headquarters are in New York City. ...
amercement: in English law, an arbitrary financial penalty, formerly imposed on an offender by his peers or at the discretion of the court or the lord. Although the word has become ...