Australian island in the Indian Ocean, just north of Edel Land Peninsula, Western Australia. Naturaliste Channel passes north to enter Denham Sound (which washes the eastern shore), and Shark Bay ...
(Latin: Rich Father), in Roman religion, god of the infernal regions, the equivalent of the Greek Hades (q.v.), or Pluto (Rich One). Also known to the Romans as Orcus, he ...
genus of orchids, family Orchidaceae, containing as many as 200 species of plants. They grow in marshes and grasslands in southeastern Africa, Madagascar, and on nearby islands.
any substance that is composed of two molecules of simple sugars (monosaccharides) linked to each other. Sucrose, which is formed following photosynthesis in green plants, consists of one molecule of ...
in international relations, any of four distinct conceptions: (1) the penal destruction or reduction of the armament of a country defeated in war (the provision under the Versailles Treaty [1919] ...
the process whereby an attorney is deprived of his license or privileges for failure to carry out his practice in accordance with established standards. Temporary suspension may be employed if ...
person who conducts a program of recorded music on radio, on television, or at discotheques or other dance halls. Disc jockey programs became the economic base of many radio stations ...
method of applying a design to dyed fabric by printing a colour-destroying agent, such as chlorine or hydrosulfite, to bleach out a white or light pattern on the darker coloured ...
group of Protestant churches that originated in the religious revival movements of the American frontier in the early 19th century. There are three major bodies of the Disciples of Christ, ...
beat-driven style of popular music that was the preeminent form of dance music in the 1970s. Its name was derived from discotheque, the name for the type of dance-oriented nightclub ...
family of primitive toads (order Anura) whose tongues are disk-shaped. The family contains four genera, which are confined to the Old World. Representatives occur in Europe, northern Africa, China, Korea, ...
interest rate charged by a central bank for loans of reserve funds to commercial banks and other financial intermediaries. This charge originally was an actual discount (an interest charge held ...
in merchandising, a retail store that sells products at prices lower than those asked by traditional retail outlets. Some discount stores are similar to department stores in that they offer ...
any of a series of unmanned experimental satellites launched by the United States Air Force. Although the Discoverer satellites had several apparent applications-such as testing orbital maneuvering and reentry techniques-they ...
in law, pretrial procedures providing for the exchange of information between the parties involved in the proceedings. Discovery may be made through interrogatories, which consist of written questions sent from ...
wide curved bay indenting the south coast of Australia. An inlet of the Indian Ocean, it is 50 miles (80 km) across and is bounded on the east by Cape ...
in mathematics, a parameter of an object or system calculated as an aid to its classification or solution. In the case of a quadratic equation ax2 + bx + c = 0, the discriminant is b2 − 4ac; ...
in psychology, the ability to perceive and respond to differences among stimuli. It is considered a more advanced form of learning than generalization (q.v.), the ability to perceive similarities, although ...
two species of the genus Symphysodon of fishes in the family Cichlidae (order Perciformes), characterized by a compressed, disk-shaped body. The two species (S. discus and S. aequifasciata) occur naturally ...
sport in athletics (track and field) in which a disk-shaped object, known as a discus, is thrown for distance. In modern competition the discus must be thrown from a circle ...
a harmful deviation from the normal structural or functional state of an organism. A diseased organism commonly exhibits signs or symptoms indicative of its abnormal state. Thus, the normal condition ...
any substance, such as creosote or alcohol, applied to inanimate objects to kill microorganisms. Disinfectants and antiseptics are alike in that both are germicidal, but antiseptics are applied primarily to ...
in logic, relation or connection of terms in a proposition to express the concept "or"; it is a statement of alternatives (sometimes called "alternation"). For clarity, exclusive disjunction (either x ...
any of three species of bats inhabiting Central America and northern South America that are distinguished by round disks at the base of the thumb and on the sole of ...
American motion-picture and television producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of animated cartoon films and as the creator of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. He ...
in law, intentional disturbing of the public peace and order by language or other conduct. It is a general term including various offenses that are usually punishable by minor penalties.
in Christian ecclesiastical law, the action of a competent authority in granting relief from the strict application of a law. It may be anticipatory or retrospective.
in wave motion, any phenomenon associated with the propagation of individual waves at speeds that depend on their wavelengths. Ocean waves, for example, move at speeds proportional to the square ...
in mechanics, distance moved by a particle or body in a specific direction. In the , A is the initial position of a point, B is the final position, and ...
the performance by an animal of an act inappropriate for the stimulus or stimuli that evoked it. Displacement behaviour usually occurs when an animal is torn between two conflicting drives, ...
in electromagnetism, a phenomenon analogous to an ordinary electric current, posited to explain magnetic fields that are produced by changing electric fields. Ordinary electric currents, called conduction currents, whether steady ...
in physics, any of the statements (originally formulated in 1913) that radioactive decay produces daughter atoms whose position in the periodic table of the chemical elements is shifted from that ...
ritualized behaviour by which an animal provides specific information to others, usually members of its own species. Virtually all higher animals use displays to some extent. The best-known displays are ...
that portion of an individual's income over which the recipient has complete discretion. An accurate general definition of income is not easy to provide. Income includes wages and salaries, interest ...
British statesman and novelist who was twice prime minister (1868, 1874-80) and who provided the Conservative Party with a twofold policy of Tory democracy and imperialism.
in chemistry, the breaking up of a compound into simpler constituents that are usually capable of recombining under other conditions. In electrolytic, or ionic, dissociation, the addition of a solvent ...
in aerial navigation, equipment for measuring distance by converting the time a special electronic pulse takes to travel from an aircraft to a ground station and for an answering pulse ...
process involving the conversion of a liquid into vapour that is subsequently condensed back to liquid form. It is exemplified at its simplest when steam from a kettle becomes deposited ...
alcoholic beverage (such as brandy, whisky, rum, or arrack) that is obtained by distillation from wine or other fermented fruit or plant juice or from a starchy material (such as ...
British military decoration awarded to officers who have performed meritorious or distinguished service in war. The decoration, instituted by Queen Victoria in 1886, entitles recipients to add D.S.O. after their ...
in acoustics and electronics, any change in a signal that alters the basic waveform or the relationship between various frequency components; it is usually a degradation of the signal. Straight ...
in law, process that enables a person to seize and detain from a wrongdoer some chattel, or item of personal property, as a pledge for the redressing of an injury, ...
a method by which a ship at sea can summon assistance. Distress signals are fixed by custom and by internationally agreed-on rules of the road at sea. The most important ...
in syllogistics, the application of a term of a proposition to the entire class that the term denotes. A term is said to be distributed in a given proposition if ...
mathematical expression that describes the probability that a system will take on a specific value or set of values. The classic examples are associated with games of chance. The binomial ...
in economics, the systematic attempt to account for the sharing of the national income among the owners of the factors of production-land, labour, and capital. Traditionally, economists have studied how ...
in mathematics, the law relating the operations of multiplication and addition, stated symbolically, a(b + c) = ab + ac; that is, the monomial factor a is distributed, or separately applied, to each term of the ...
public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Washington, D.C., U.S. It is the only public institution of higher education in the district, and it was the first exclusively urban land-grant ...
any of three distinct types of legal offense. In its broadest sense, the term is synonymous with crime itself and means an indictable offense. In another and more common sense, ...
(The Ditch), an early Muslim victory that ultimately forced the Meccans to recognize the political and religious strength of the Muslim community in Medina.
area on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula between the Eider and Elbe rivers, now included in the Land (state) of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, but down to 1866 a semi-independent ...
a choric poem, chant, or hymn of ancient Greece sung by revelers at the festival in honour of the god Dionysus. The form originated about the 7th century BC in ...
any of several plants: European dittany (see gas plant), Maryland dittany (Cunila origanoides), and Crete dittany (Origanum dictamnus). The last two mentioned are of the mint family (Lamiaceae), order Lamiales. ...
violinist and composer of instrumental music and of light operas that established the form of the Singspiel (a comic 18th-century opera in the German language).
town, Daman and Diu union territory, western India. It is situated on an island in the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay) of the Arabian Sea, off the southern tip of the ...
any drug that increases the flow of urine. Diuretics promote the removal from the body of excess water, salts, poisons, and accumulated metabolic products, such as urea. They serve to ...
apparent daily motion of the heavens from east to west in which celestial objects seem to rise and set, a phenomenon that results from the Earth's rotation from west to ...
Hindu of the Brahman (priestly) caste who rose through religious and administrative ranks to serve four Cambodian kings-Harshavarman II, Jayavarman VI, Dharanindravarman I, and the great Suryavarman II-and who was ...
in Islamic societies, a "register," or logbook, and later a "finance department," "government bureau," or "administration." The first divan appeared under the caliph 'Umar I (634-644) as a pensions list, ...
any small pouch or sac that forms in the wall of a major organ of the human body. Diverticula form most commonly in the esophagus, small intestine, and large intestine ...
18th-century musical genre of a light and entertaining nature usually consisting of several movements for strings, winds, or both. The movements included sonata forms, variation forms, dances, and rondos. One ...
an individual share of earnings distributed among stockholders of a corporation or company in proportion to their holdings and as determined by the class of their holdings. Dividends are usually ...
instrument for measuring, transferring, or marking off distances, consisting of two straight adjustable legs hinged together and ending in sharp points. It is used principally in drafting for the accurate ...
the practice of determining the hidden significance or cause of events, sometimes foretelling the future, by various natural, psychological, and other techniques. Found in all civilizations, both ancient and modern, ...
long narrative poem written c. 1310-14 by Dante (q.v.). It is usually held to be one of the world's great works of literature. Divided into three major sections-Inferno, Purgatorio, and ...
in various Christian churches, the public service of praise and worship consisting of psalms, hymns, prayers, readings from the Fathers of the early church, and other writings. Recurring at various ...
doctrine in defense of monarchical absolutism, which asserted that kings derived their authority from God and could not therefore be held accountable for their actions by any earthly authority such ...
a Roman Catholic religious organization, composed of priests and brothers, founded in 1875 at Steyl, Neth., by Arnold Janssen to work in the foreign missions. Its members are engaged in ...
prominent African-American religious leader of the 1930s. The Depression-era movement he founded, the Peace Mission, was originally dismissed as a cult, but it still exists and is now generally hailed ...
