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catch ... Cattle Raid of Cooley, The

catch: perpetual canon designed to be sung by three or more voices, especially popular in 17th- and 18th-century England. Like all rounds, catches are indefinitely repeatable pieces in which all voices ...
catch-as-catch-can wrestling: basic wrestling style in which nearly all holds and tactics are permitted in both upright and ground wrestling. Rules usually forbid only actions that may injure an opponent, such as ...
Cateau-Cambresis, Peace of: (April 3, 1559), agreement marking the end of the 65-year (1494-1559) struggle between France and Spain for the control of Italy, leaving Habsburg Spain the dominant power there for the ...
catechetical school: in early Christianity, a type of educational institution with a curriculum directed toward inquirers (especially those trained in the Greek paideia, or educational system) whose aim was to gain a ...
catechism: a manual of religious instruction usually arranged in the form of questions and answers used to instruct the young, to win converts, and to testify to the faith. Although many ...
catecholamine: any of various naturally occurring amines that function as neurotransmitters and hormones within the body. Catecholamines are characterized by a catechol group (a benzene ring with two hydroxyl groups) to ...
catechumen: a person who receives instruction in the Christian religion in order to be baptized. According to the New Testament, the apostles instructed converts after baptism (Acts 2:41-42), and Christian instruction ...
Catechumens, Liturgy of the: the instructional part of the Christian worship service, consisting of hymns, prayers, scriptural readings, and homilies, which precedes the Eucharist (i.e., the Liturgy of the Faithful). In the early church ...
categorical imperative: in the ethics of the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant, founder of critical philosophy, a moral law that is unconditional or absolute for all agents, the validity or claim of ...
categorical proposition: in syllogistic or traditional logic, a proposition or statement, in which the predicate is, without qualification, affirmed or denied of all or part of the subject. Thus, categorical propositions are ...
category: in logic, a term used to denote the several most general or highest types of thought forms or entities, or to denote any distinction such that, if a form or ...
catenary: in mathematics, a curve that describes the shape of a flexible hanging chain or cable-the name derives from the Latin catenaria ("chain"). Any freely hanging cable or ...
catenation: chemical linkage into chains of atoms of the same element, occurring only among the atoms of an element that has a valence of at least two and that forms relatively ...
caterpillar: larva of a butterfly or moth (Lepidoptera). Caterpillars have cylindrical bodies consisting of 13 segments, with three pairs of legs on the thorax and several on the abdomen. The head ...
Caterpillar Inc.: major American manufacturer of earth-moving, construction, agricultural, and materials-handling equipment. Its headquarters are in Peoria, Illinois.
Catesby, Robert: chief instigator of the Gunpowder Plot, a Roman Catholic conspiracy to blow up King James I and the English Parliament on Nov. 5, 1605.
catfish: any of the fishes of the order Siluriformes. Catfishes are related to the characins, carp, and minnows (order Cypriniformes) and may be placed with them in the superorder Ostariophysi. Some ...
catgut: tough cord made from the intestines of certain animals, particularly sheep, and used for surgical ligatures and sutures, for the strings of violins and related instruments, and for the strings ...
Cathari: (from Greek katharos, "pure"), also spelled Cathars, heretical Christian sect that flourished in western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Cathari professed a neo-Manichaean dualism-that there are ...
catharsis: the purification or purgation of the emotions (especially pity and fear) primarily through art. In criticism, catharsis is a metaphor used by Aristotle in the Poetics to describe the effects ...
Cathay: name by which North China was known in medieval Europe. The word is derived from Khitay (or Khitan), the name of a seminomadic people who left southeastern Mongolia in the ...
Cathaya: genus of evergreen coniferous trees of the family Pinaceae, containing two living species native to China and one fossil species found in Germany. Both living forms are about 20 metres ...
cathedra: (Latin: "chair," or "seat"), Roman chair of heavy structure derived from the klismos-a lighter, more delicate chair developed by the ancient Greeks.
cathedral: in Christian churches that have an episcopal form of church government, the church in which a residential bishop has his official seat or throne, the cathedra. Cathedral churches are of ...
cathedral school: medieval European school run by cathedral clergy. Originally the function of such schools was to train priests, but later they taught lay students as well-usually boys of noble families being ...
Cather, Willa: American novelist noted for her portrayals of the settlers and frontier life on the American plains.
Catherine de Medicis: queen consort of Henry II of France (reigned 1547-59) and subsequently regent of France (1560-74), who was one of the most influential personalities of the Catholic-Huguenot wars. Three of her ...
Catherine Howard: fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England. Her downfall came when Henry learned of her premarital affairs.
Catherine I: peasant woman of Baltic (probably Lithuanian) birth who became the second wife of Peter I the Great (reigned 1682-1725) and empress of Russia (1725-27).
Catherine II: German-born empress of Russia (1762-96), who led her country into full participation in the political and cultural life of Europe, carrying on the work begun by Peter the Great. With ...
Catherine of Alexandria, Saint: one of the most popular early Christian martyrs. She is not mentioned before the 9th century, and her historicity is doubtful. According to the legend, she was an extremely learned ...
Catherine of Aragon: first wife of King Henry VIII of England (reigned 1509-47). The refusal of Pope Clement VII to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine triggered the break between Henry and Rome and ...
Catherine of Bologna, Saint: Italian mystic and writer whose spiritual writings were popular in Italy until the end of the 18th century.
Catherine Of Braganza: Portuguese Roman Catholic wife of King Charles II of England (ruled 1660-85). A pawn in diplomatic dealings and anti-papal intrigues, she was married to Charles as part of an important ...
Catherine of Genoa, Saint: Italian mystic admired for her work among the sick and the poor.
Catherine of Siena, Saint: Dominican tertiary, mystic, and patron saint of Italy who played a major role in returning the papacy from Avignon to Rome (1377). She was declared a doctor of the church ...
Catherine of Sweden, Saint: daughter of St. Bridget of Sweden, whom she succeeded as superior of the Brigittines.
Catherine Of Valois: French princess, the wife of King Henry V of England, mother of King Henry VI, and grandmother of the first Tudor monarch of England, Henry VII.
Catherine Parr: sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII of England (ruled 1509-47).
Catherine the Great, Instruction of: (Aug. 10 [July 30, old style], 1767), in Russian history, document prepared by Empress Catherine II that recommended liberal, humanitarian political theories for use as the basis of government reform ...
Catherine, Saint: Italian Dominican mystic. At the age of 13 she entered the Dominican convent at Prato, becoming prioress from 1560 to 1590. Famous for her visions of the Passion and her ...
cathode: negative terminal or electrode through which electrons enter a direct current load, such as an electrolytic cell or an electron tube, and the positive terminal of a battery or other ...
cathode ray: stream of electrons leaving the negative electrode (cathode) in a discharge tube containing a gas at low pressure, or electrons emitted by a heated filament in certain electron tubes. Cathode ...
cathode-ray oscilloscope: electronic-display device containing a cathode-ray tube (CRT) that generates an electron beam that is used to produce visible patterns, or graphs, on a phosphorescent screen. The graphs plot the relationships ...
catholic: (from Greek katholikos, "universal"), the characteristic that, according to ecclesiastical writers since the 2nd century, distinguished the Christian Church at large from local communities or from heretical and schismatic sects. ...
Catholic Action: the organized work of the laity that is performed under the direction or mandate of a bishop in the fields of dogma, morals, liturgy, education, and charity. In 1927 Pope ...
Catholic Emancipation: in British history, the freedom from discrimination and civil disabilities granted to the Roman Catholics of Britain and Ireland in a series of laws during the late 18th and early ...
Catholic League: a military alliance (1609-35) of the Catholic powers of Germany led by Maximilian I, duke of Bavaria, and designed to stem the growth of Protestantism in Germany. In alliance with ...
Catholic Monarchs: Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, whose marriage (1469) led to the unification of Spain, of which they were the first monarchs. Although employed earlier, the appellation ...
Catholic University of America, The: private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Washington, D.C., U.S. The university is affiliated with the Roman Catholic church. It comprises 11 faculties or schools, including the Columbus School of ...
catholicos: ("universal" bishop), in Eastern Christian Churches, title of certain ecclesiastical superiors. In earlier times the designation had occasionally been used, like archimandrite and exarch, for a superior abbot; but the ...
Catiline: in the late Roman Republic, an aristocrat who turned demagogue and made an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the republic while Cicero was a consul (63).
cation: atom or group of atoms that bears a positive electric charge. See ion.
Catlett, Elizabeth: expatriate American sculptor and printmaker renowned for her intensely political art.
Catlin, George: American artist and author, whose paintings of Native American scenes constitute an invaluable record of Native American culture in the 19th century.
catnip: (Nepeta cataria), aromatic herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae, or Labiatae). The plant has spikes of small, purple-dotted flowers. Catnip has been used as a seasoning and as a medicinal ...
Cato, Marcus Porcius: great-grandson of Cato the Censor and a leader of the Optimates (conservative senatorial aristocracy) who tried to preserve the Roman Republic against power seekers, in particular Julius Caesar.
Cato, Marcus Porcius: Roman statesman, orator, and the first Latin prose writer of importance. He was noted for his conservative and anti-Hellenic policies, in opposition to the phil-Hellenic ideals of the Scipio family.
Cato, Publius Valerius: Roman poet and grammarian, the leader of the "new" school of poetry (poetae novi, as Cicero called them). Its followers rejected the national epic and drama in favour of the ...
Catoche, Cape: cape on the Caribbean Sea, on a bar off the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, in the northeastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula (q.v.). Cape Catoche is said to have ...
Caton-Thompson, Gertrude: English archaeologist who distinguished two prehistoric cultures in the Al-Fayyum depression of Upper Egypt, the older dating to about 5000 BC and the younger to about 4500 BC.
Catonsville: village, Baltimore county, north-central Maryland, U.S., a southwestern suburb of Baltimore. It was founded before 1729 and was known as Johnnycake for a local inn specializing in that type of ...
Catron, John: associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1837-65).
Catroux, Georges: French general and diplomat, one of the highest-ranking officers in the Free French government of World War II.
Cats, Jacob: Dutch writer of emblem books and didactic verse whose place in the affections of his countrymen is shown by his nickname, "Father Cats."
Catskill Delta: structure that was deposited in the northeastern United States during the Middle and Late Devonian Period (the Devonian Period began about 408 million years ago and lasted about 48 million ...
Catskill Game Farm, Inc.: privately owned zoo opened in 1933 in Catskill, New York, U.S. It occupies more than 914 acres (370 hectares), of which 135 acres (55 hectares) are open to the public ...
Catskill Mountains: dissected segment of the Allegheny Plateau, part of the Appalachian Mountain system, lying mainly in Greene and Ulster counties, southeastern New York, U.S. Bounded north and east by the valleys ...
catsup: spicy liquid condiment widely used in the United States and Great Britain. U.S. catsup is a sweet puree of tomatoes, onions, and green peppers flavoured with vinegar and pickling spice ...
Catt, Carrie Chapman: American feminist leader who led the women's rights movement for more than 25 years, culminating in the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment (for woman suffrage) to the U.S. Constitution in ...
Cattaneo, Carlo: Italian publicist and intellectual whose writings significantly shaped the Risorgimento and whose journal, Il Politecnico ("The Polytechnic"), not only served as a vehicle for his political views but also was ...
Cattaraugus: county, southwestern New York state, U.S., consisting of a ruggedly hilly region bounded by Cattaraugus Creek to the north and Pennsylvania to the south. It is drained by the Allegheny ...
Cattell, James McKeen: U.S. psychologist who oriented U.S. psychology toward use of objective experimental methods, mental testing, and application of psychology to the fields of education, business, industry, and advertising. He originated two ...
Cattell, Raymond B.: British-born American psychologist, considered to be one of the world's leading personality theorists.
cattle: domesticated bovine farm animals that are raised for their meat or milk, for their hides, or for draft purposes.
Cattle Raid of Cooley, The: Old Irish epiclike tale that is the longest of the Ulster cycle of hero tales and deals with the conflict between Ulster and Connaught over possession of the brown bull ...