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Matale: town, central Sri Lanka (Ceylon), 14 miles (23 km) north of Kandy. A Buddhist monastery and rock temple (Aluvihara) are near the town. Matale's intermediate elevation and moderate rainfall abet ...
Matamba: historical African kingdom of the Mbundu people, situated on the west bank of the Kwango River northeast of Luanda, Angola. In the early 16th century it was a well-established state, ...
Matamoros: city, northern Tamaulipas state, Mexico, on the southern bank of the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo del Norte), 28 miles (45 km) from the Gulf of Mexico and across from Brownsville, ...
Matamoros: city, southwestern Puebla state, south-central Mexico. Formerly known as Matamoros de Izucar, the city is situated at 4,350 feet (1,326 m) above sea level on the Nexapa River, which descends ...
Matane: city, Bas-Saint-Laurent region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. It lies on the south bank of the St. Lawrence River, at the mouth of the Matane River.
Matanzas: city, west-central Cuba. Founded in 1693 on an excellent bay (on the Straits of Florida) known to the Spanish since 1508 and used by pirates, it was by 1860 the ...
Matanzas: provincia, west-central Cuba, bounded on the north by the Straits of Florida, on the northeast by Villa Clara province, on the southeast by Cienfuegos province, on the southwest by the ...
Matapa: a southern African empire ruled by a line of kings known as the Mwene Matapa (q.v.).
Matapedia Valley: most important valley in the Gaspe Peninsula, lying in Bas-Saint-Laurent region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. Extending in a northwest-southeast direction for some 60 miles (100 km), it forms a direct ...
Matar: port town, Barcelona provincia, in the comunidad autonoma (autonomous community) of Catalonia, northeastern Spain, on the Mediterranean coast. The town originated as the Roman ...
Matara: town, southern Sri Lanka. It lies at the mouth of the Nilwala River on the island's southern coast. Its name, meaning Great Ford, arose from its location at a river ...
Mataram: large kingdom in Java that lasted from the late 16th century to the 18th century, when the Dutch came to power in Indonesia. Mataram was originally a vassal of Pajang, ...
Mataram: city, capital of Nusa Tenggara Barat (West Nusa Tenggara) provinsi (province), Lombok island, Indonesia. It is located on the western coast, east of Bali. Until the ...
Mataura River: river, South Island, New Zealand. It rises in the Eyre Mountains south of Wakatipu Lake and flows south past Gore and Mataura to enter the Pacific Ocean at Foveaux Strait, ...
match: splinter of wood, strip of cardboard, or other suitable flammable material tipped with a substance ignitable by friction.
matchlock: in firearms, a device for igniting gunpowder developed in the 15th century, a major advance in the manufacture of small arms. The matchlock was the first mechanical firing device. It ...
mate: tealike beverage, popular in many South American countries, brewed from the dried leaves of an evergreen shrub or tree (Ilex paraguariensis) related to holly. It is a stimulating drink, greenish ...
Matehuala: city, northern San Luis Potosi estado ("state"), northeastern Mexico. It is situated on the interior plateau, 5,955 feet (1,815 m) above sea level, in the Salado Valley, east of the ...
Matera: city, capital of Matera provincia, Basilicata regione, southern Italy. It lies above a deep ravine, northwest of Taranto. Of obscure origin, the town formed part of the duchy of Benevento ...
Materialism: in philosophy, the view that all facts (including facts about the human mind and will and the course of human history) are causally dependent upon physical processes, or even reducible ...
materials handling: the movement of raw goods from their native site to the point of use in manufacturing, their subsequent manipulation in production processes, and the transfer of finished products from factories ...
materials processing: the series of operations that transforms industrial materials from a raw-material state into finished parts or products. Industrial materials are defined as those used in the manufacture of "hard" goods, ...
materials science: the study of the properties of solid materials and how those properties are determined by a material's composition and structure. It grew out of an amalgam of solid-state physics, metallurgy, ...
materials testing: measurement of the characteristics and behaviour of such substances as metals, ceramics, or plastics under various conditions. The data thus obtained can be used in specifying the suitability of materials ...
maternal school: a French school for children between two and six years old. Private schools for young children were founded in France around 1779, under the influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile. The ...
mathematical model: either a physical representation of mathematical concepts or a mathematical representation of reality. Physical mathematical models include reproductions of plane and solid geometric figures made of cardboard, wood, plastic, or ...
mathematical programming: theoretical tool of management science and economics in which management operations are described by mathematical equations that can be manipulated for a variety of purposes. If the basic descriptions involved ...
mathematicism: the effort to employ the formal structure and rigorous method of mathematics as a model for the conduct of philosophy. Mathematicism is manifested in Western philosophy in at least three ...
mathematics: the science of structure, order, and relation that has evolved from elemental practices of counting, measuring, and describing the shapes of objects. It deals with logical reasoning and quantitative calculation, ...
mathematics, East Asian: the discipline of mathematics as it developed in China and Japan.
mathematics, foundations of: the study of the logical and philosophical basis of mathematics, including whether the axioms of a given system ensure its completeness and its consistency. Because mathematics has served as a ...
mathematics, philosophy of: the study of the nature of mathematics, including underlying assumptions of the discipline and its scope.
mathematics, South Asian: the discipline of mathematics as it developed in the Indian subcontinent.
Mather, Cotton: American Congregational minister and author, supporter of the old order of the ruling clergy, who became the most celebrated of all New England Puritans. He combined a mystical strain (he ...
Mather, Increase: Boston Congregational minister, author and educator, who was a determining influence in the councils of New England during the crucial period when leadership passed into the hands of the first ...
Mather, Richard: English-born American Congregational minister, father of Increase Mather and three other Puritan ministers. After joining the Great Migration of Puritans from England to New England (1635), he was elected "teacher" ...
Mathesius, Vilem: Czech linguist and scholar of English language and literature. He was president of the Prague Linguistic Circle, famous for its influence on structural linguistics and for its phonological studies. Mathesius ...
Mathew, Theobald: Irish priest and orator known as the "Apostle of Temperance."
Mathews, Charles: prominent English stage personality and theatre manager who, renowned for his genius at mimicry and for his wit, was among the leading comedians of his day.
Mathews, Charles James: writer of comic sketches and one of the best high comedians ever to appear on the English stage.
Mathews, Shailer: leader of the Social Gospel movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, which interpreted the Kingdom of God as requiring social as well as ...
Mathewson, Christy: U.S. professional baseball pitcher, one of the first five players chosen for the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y. (1936).
Mathias, Bob: American athlete, the youngest to win a gold medal in the decathlon in Olympic competition. After his victory in 1948 at age 17, he returned to win a second Olympic ...
Mathiassen, Therkel: Danish archaeologist and ethnographer whose excavations during 1921-23 to the west and north of Hudson Bay revealed the existence of the Thule prehistoric Eskimo culture.
Mathieu, Claude-Louis: French astronomer and mathematician who worked particularly on the determination of the distances of the stars.
Mathis, June: American scriptwriter, who helped establish the primacy of the script in American silent films.
Mathura: city, western Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, on the Yamuna River, northwest of Agra. The site of Mathura was inhabited before the 1st century AD. In the 2nd century the ...
Mathura art: style of Buddhist visual art that flourished in the trading and pilgrimage centre of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India, from the 2nd century BC to the 12th century AD; its most ...
Matilda: consort of the Holy Roman emperor Henry V and afterward claimant to the English throne in the reign of King Stephen.
Matilda of Canossa: countess of Tuscany remembered for her role in the conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman emperor. The climax of this struggle, the confrontation of the emperor Henry IV ...
Matilda Of Flanders: queen consort of William I the Conqueror, whom she married c. 1053. During William's absences in England, the duchy of Normandy was under her regency, with the aid of their ...
Matisse, Henri: artist often regarded as the most important French painter of the 20th century. The leader of the Fauvist movement around 1900, Matisse pursued the expressiveness of colour throughout his career. ...
Matlock: town, Derbyshire Dales district, administrative and historic county of Derbyshire, England. It consists of a group of settlements extending along the River Derwent. Matlock is noted for its beautiful valleys ...
Mato Grosso: inland estado ("state") of Brazil, situated in the Grande Regiao Centro-Oeste (Grand Central-West Region). It is bounded on the northwest by the states of Rondonia and Amazonas, on the northeast ...
Mato Grosso do Sul: inland estado ("state") of Brazil, situated in the Grande Regiao Centro-Oeste (Grand Central-West Region). It is bounded on the north by the state of Mato Grosso, on the northeast by ...
Mato Grosso Plateau: part of the Brazilian Highlands of inland Brazil. It is an ancient erosional plateau that occupies much of central Mato Grosso state and extends from the border of Goias state ...
Matoniaceae: family of ferns dating from the Mesozoic era (245 million to 66.4 million years ago) and distinguished by an umbrella-shaped membranous covering over clusters (sori) or spore-bearing structures (sporangia). The ...
Matopo Hills: mass of granite hills, southeast of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, formed by river erosion and weathered into fantastic shapes and deep valleys. The hills are associated with folklore and tradition, some being ...
Matos Guerra, Gregorio de: poet who was the most colourful figure in early Brazilian literature. He was called the Brazilian Villon.
Matosinhos: town and concelho (township), Porto distrito ("district"), northwestern Portugal. The town, a northwestern suburb of Porto city, lies at the mouth of the Leca River along the Atlantic Ocean.
Matra Mountains: the highest range in northern Hungary, and part of the region's central highland belt. The range's maximum elevation is reached at Mount Kekes (3,327 feet [1,014 m]). The Matra is ...
Matrah: town in Oman, on the Gulf of Oman coast, just west of Muscat. Matrah has traditionally been the country's chief commercial centre and port. Port Qabus, the town's new port ...
matriarchy: hypothetical social system in which familial and political authority is wielded by women. Under the influence of Charles Darwin's theories of evolution and, more particularly, the work of the Swiss ...
matrix: in geology, the material in which something is embedded, either the natural rock that holds crystals, fossils, pebbles, mineral veins, and the like, or the fine-grained materials that surround larger ...
matrix: a set of numbers arranged in rows and columns so as to form a rectangular array. The numbers are called the elements, or entries, of the matrix. Matrices have wide ...
Matronalia: in Roman religion, ancient festival of Juno, the birth goddess, celebrated annually by Roman matrons on March 1, the day on which a temple was dedicated to Juno. According to ...
Matruh: desert muhafazah (governorate) of Egypt that includes all of Egypt west of al-Jizah governorate and north of latitude 26°20' N. Only one percent of its area is inhabited. It is ...
Matshikiza, Todd: journalist, writer, and musician noted for his score for the musical play King Kong (1960) and for his short stories.
Matson, Randy: American shot-putter who, in 1965, became the first man to put the shot more than 21 m, with a distance of 21.52 m (70.6 ft).
Matsu Island: small island under the jurisdiction of Taiwan in the East China Sea, lying off the Min River estuary of mainland China and about 130 miles (210 km) northwest of Chi-lung ...
Matsubara: city, Osaka fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies along the Yamato River. The city was an early road transport centre and is rich in historic relics, including the ancient ...
Matsudaira Sadanobu: Japanese minister who instituted the Kansei reforms (q.v.), a series of conservative fiscal and social measures intended to reinvigorate Japan by recovering the greatness that had marked the Tokugawa shogunate ...
Matsudaira Tsuneo: Japanese diplomat and statesman who helped secure an increase in the naval strength allotted to Japan at the 1930 London Naval Conference. The increase, however, was not large enough to ...
Matsudaira Yoshinaga: one of the primary Japanese political figures in the events preceding the Meiji Restoration-i.e., the 1868 overthrow of the feudal Tokugawa shogunate and the establishment of a centralized regime under ...
Matsudo: city, Chiba Prefecture (ken), Honshu, Japan, on the Joban Line (railway), east of the centre of Tokyo. During the Tokugawa era (1603-1867), Matsudo was a post town on the Mito-kaido ...
Matsue: capital, Shimane Prefecture (ken), southwestern Honshu, Japan, on Shinji-ko (Lake Shinji) and the Tenjin-gawa (Tenjin River), near the Sea of Japan. Known as the "city built on water," Matsue retained ...