Ethiopian writer whose poetry and plays written in Amharic (the modern language of Ethiopia) examine the difficulty of reconciling traditional values and customs with modern Western ideas.
Ethiopian army officer and head of state (1974-91), who helped overthrow the centuries-old monarchy and attempted to mold Ethiopia into a communist state.
any of several species of valuable Atlantic coastal fishes in the genus Brevoortia of the herring family (Clupeidae), utilized for oil, fish meal, and fertilizer. Menhaden have a deep body, ...
recurrent and generally progressive group of symptoms that include loss of hearing, ringing in the ears, dizziness, and a sense of fullness or pressure in the ears. Meniere disease usually ...
king of Shewa (or Shoa; 1865-89), and emperor of Ethiopia (1889-1913). One of Ethiopia's greatest rulers, he expanded the empire almost to its present-day borders, repelled an Italian invasion in ...
series of reservoirs, part of the Darling River Conservation Scheme, western New South Wales, Australia, near the town of Menindee. Primarily natural features, the lakes are flooded through creeks linking ...
three membranous envelopes-pia mater, arachnoid, and dura mater-that surround the brain and spinal cord. Cerebrospinal fluid fills the ventricles of the brain and the space between the pia mater and ...
inflammation of the meninges, the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis can be caused by various infectious agents, including viruses, fungi, and protozoa, but bacteria produce the most ...
the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis, which causes meningococcal meningitis in humans, who are the only natural hosts in which it causes disease. The bacteria are spherical, ranging in diameter from 0.6 ...
Greek philosopher from Gadara (modern Umm Qays, Jordan), who followed the cynic philosophy of Diogenes and who founded a seriocomic literary genre known as Menippean satire. It was imitated by ...
fifth (according to some traditions, sixth) king of the 4th dynasty (c. 2575-c. 2465 BC) of Egypt; he built the third and smallest of the three Pyramids of Giza.
city, San Mateo county, western California, U.S. It lies on the western shore of San Francisco Bay. The area, originally inhabited by Ohlone Indians, was called El Palo Alto by ...
unincorporated community, Middlesex county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Newark. Menlo Park is the site of the Edison Memorial Tower and State Park ...
a soft-paste porcelain of a particularly light and translucent quality made at a French factory from the 1730s to 1806. The wares are generally small: vases or coffee- or dressing-table ...
member of a Protestant church that arose out of the Anabaptists, a radical reform movement of the 16th-century Reformation. It was named for Menno Simons, a Dutch priest who consolidated ...
philosopher of the Skeptical school of empirical medicine, credited with elaborating the first scientific method of observation. Like many other physicians of the period, he considered medicine an art; this ...
city, seat (1864) of Menominee county and the southernmost city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, U.S.; it is located on Green Bay at the mouth of the Menominee River ...
Algonkian-speaking North American Indian tribe who lived along the Menominee River, now the eastern portion of the boundary between Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan, when first reported by ...
town, southeastern Angola. It was named, previously, after Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto, a late 19th-century Portuguese explorer of the interior of southern Africa. Located on the Cuebe ...
final cessation of menstruation and therefore the end of a woman's reproductive life. The popular term "change of life" is neither descriptive nor accurate, for it tends to indicate a ...
multibranched candelabra, used in the religious rituals of Judaism, that has been an important symbol in both ancient and modern Israel. The seven-branched menorah was originally found in the wilderness ...
Italian composer of operas of wider popularity than any others of their time. His realistic operas on his own librettos represent a successful combination of 20th-century dramatic situations with the ...
in Anglo-American law, criminal intent or evil mind. In general, the definition of a criminal offense involves not only an act or omission and its consequences but also the accompanying ...
member of the non-Leninist wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party, which evolved into a separate organization. It originated when a dispute over party membership requirements arose at the 1903 ...
prominent Russian political figure during and after the reign of Peter I the Great. A gifted general and administrator, he eventually became the most powerful official in the empire, but ...
European system of musical notation used from c. 1260 to 1600. It evolved as a method to notate complex rhythms beyond the possibilities of previous notation (neumes) and reached its ...
intelligence test score, expressed as the chronological age for which a given level of performance is average or typical. An individual's mental age is then divided by his chronological age ...
any illness with significant psychological or behavioral manifestations and that is associated with either a painful or distressing symptom or impairment in one or more important areas of functioning.
any of several conditions characterized by subnormal intellectual functioning and impaired adaptive behaviour that are identified during the individual's developmental years. Increasingly, sensitivity to the negative connotations of the label ...
group of about 70 islands, Sumatera Barat provinsi (province), Indonesia. They lie off the western coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The major islands are Siberut, Sipura, Pagai Utara ...
the mint genus, containing 25 species of aromatic herbs native in temperate Eurasia, North America, southern Africa, and Australia. It belongs to the family Lamiaceae, order Lamiales, though the flowers ...
a crystalline organic compound with a strong, minty, cooling odour and taste obtained for centuries from the oil of the Japanese mint; it is used in cigarettes, cosmetics, and flavourings. ...
town, Alpes-Maritimes departement, Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur region, southeastern France. Situated near the Italian border 17 miles (28 km) northeast of Nice and 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Monte-Carlo ...
city, Lake county, northeastern Ohio, U.S. It lies near Lake Erie, 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Cleveland. Mentor Township, organized in 1815, was named for Hiram Mentor, an early ...
king of Egypt's 11th dynasty (ruled 2008-1957 BC) who, starting as the ruler of southernmost Egypt in about 2008, reunified the country by defeating his rivals and ushered in the ...
18th-century French craft guild concerned with woodworking, the menuisiers doing principally the work of the carpenter and joiner and the ebenistes applying the veneered finish. Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the finance minister ...
German painter and printmaker, best known in his own day as a brilliant historical painter, whose patriotic works satisfied the public's taste, engendered by Prussia's continual expansion throughout the 19th ...
statesman who, as prime minister of Australia (1939-41, 1949-66), strengthened military ties with the United States and fostered industrial growth and immigration from Europe.
one of the most influential set designers in Anglo-American filmmaking, whose work on The Tempest and The Dove in 1927-28 won the first Oscar awarded by the Motion Picture Academy ...
synthetic drug used in the treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is an opioid analgesic, and thus its effects on the body resemble those of opium or morphine, one ...
familiar spirit of the Devil in late settings of the legend of Faust. It is probable that the name Mephistopheles was invented for the historical Faust by the anonymous author ...
gemeente (commune), Drenthe provincie, east-central Netherlands. It is situated near the confluence of the Drentche Hoofd and Hoogeveensche canals and the Reest River, which empty into the Meppelerdiep before it ...
drug used in the treatment of anxiety. A central nervous system depressant, meprobamate acts selectively upon the spinal cord and the higher centres in the brain. Physical dependence may be ...
among the Cheremis and Udmurts (also called Votyaks), a district where people would gather periodically to hold religious festivals and perform sacrifices to nature gods. The word mer is derived ...
(French: "Sea of Ice"), one of the longest glaciers in the Alps, extending for 3.5 miles (5.6 km) on the northern side of Mont Blanc near Chamonix, Fr. Formed by ...
tributary of the Mississippi River rising in the Ozark Mountains, near Salem in Dent county, southeastern Missouri, U.S. The river winds 207 miles (333 km) generally north, northeast, and southeast ...
city, Bolzano-Bozen provincia, Trentino-Alto Adige regione, northern Italy. It lies at the foot of the central chain of the Alps, at the confluence of the Passirio and Adige rivers, northwest ...
volcanic mountain peak located near the centre of the island of Java, Indonesia. The volcano is about 20 miles (32 km) north of Yogyakarta and somewhat farther south of Semarang. ...
antiseptic used to prevent infection in small cuts and abrasions. Commonly marketed as Mercurochrome, merbromin was the first of a series of antiseptics that contained mercury, a chemical element that ...
Italian composer and teacher who was a transitional figure in opera composition between Gaetano Donizetti, Gioacchino Rossini, and Vincenzo Bellini on the one hand and Giuseppe Verdi on the other. ...
specialized organization engaged in supplying information on the creditworthiness and financial strength of business firms in highly developed economies. The first such agency, the Mercantile Agency, was founded in New ...
economic theory and practice common in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century that promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at ...
town, southern Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, southern India, in the Western Ghats, at an elevation of 3,800 feet (1,160 m), on the national highway from Mysore city to Mangalore. In ...
type of map projection introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. It is often described as a cylindrical projection, but it must be derived mathematically. The meridians are equally spaced, parallel ...
Flemish cartographer whose most important innovation was a map, embodying what was later known as the Mercator projection, on which parallels and meridians are rendered as straight lines spaced so ...
city, seat (1872) of Merced county, central California, U.S. It is situated on Bear Creek in the San Joaquin Valley, about 55 miles (90 km) northwest of Fresno. It was ...
religious order founded by St. Peter Nolasco in Spain in 1218, for the purpose of ransoming Christian captives from the Moors. It was originally a military order.
city, southwestern Uruguay, on the Negro River. The city, which was founded in 1781, is noted for its colonial architecture, beaches, a river promenade, and summertime regattas and tennis tournaments. ...
city, east-central San Luis provincia (province), west-central Argentina. It is located on the Quinto River in a semiarid transition area between the Pampa (east) and the San ...
hired professional soldier who fights for any state or nation without regard to political interests or issues. From the earliest days of organized warfare until the development of political standing ...
county, northwestern Pennsylvania, U.S., bordered by Ohio to the west and located midway between the cities of Erie and Pittsburgh. It consists of rolling hills on the Allegheny Plateau. The ...
county, west-central New Jersey, U.S., bordered by Pennsylvania to the west (the Delaware River constituting the boundary) and by the Millstone River to the northeast and east. Lowlands of the ...
