town, Atlantic seaport, western Sierra Leone, on Pepel Island, near the mouth of the Sierra Leone River (an estuary formed by the Rokel River and Port Loko Creek). Beginning in ...
genus of the pepper family (Piperaceae), comprising more than 500 species of tropical and subtropical fleshy herbs, annuals as well as perennials. Some are epiphytic (growing on the branches of ...
third king of the 6th dynasty (c. 2325-c. 2150 BC) of ancient Egypt, whose reign saw the spread of trade and conquest and a growth in the influence of powerful ...
fifth king of the 6th dynasty (c. 2325-c. 2150 BC) of ancient Egypt, during whose extensive reign the government became weakened because of internal and external troubles. Late Egyptian tradition ...
(from Spanish pepino, "cucumber"), also called Hum (Serbo-Croatian: "hill"), or HaystackHill, conical hill of residual limestone in a deeply eroded karst region. Pepino hills generally form ...
garment worn by Greek women during the early Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods (i.e., up to about AD 300). It consisted of a large, rectangular piece of material folded vertically ...
(Capsicum), any of a great number of plants of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, notably Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens, and C. boccatum, extensively cultivated throughout tropical Asia and equatorial America for ...
(Schinus molle), small ornamental tree, of the cashew family (Anacardiaceae), native to tropical America and cultivated in warm subtropical regions. The long leaves have storage cells that contain a volatile ...
American jazz musician noted for the beauty of his sound and his improvisations on alto saxophone, and a major figure in the 1950s in West Coast jazz (see cool jazz).
(Biston betularia), a European moth of the family Geometridae (order Lepidoptera), having speckled black-and-white wings. It is of significance in exemplifying natural selection through industrial melanism.
any of about 100 species of herbs constituting the genus Lepidium, of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), distributed throughout the world. Many, such as L. perfoliatum, are lawn and field weeds, ...
(Mentha piperita), strongly aromatic perennial herb, source of a widely used flavouring. It has stalked, smooth, dark-green leaves and blunt, oblong clusters of pinkish-lavender flowers, which are dried and used ...
colonial American merchant, politician, and soldier who in 1745 commanded land forces that, with a British fleet, captured the French fortress of Louisbourg (in present-day Nova Scotia). For this exploit ...
either of two species of stout-billed tropical American songbirds (order Passeriformes). (They are included by some authorities in the vireo family, Vireonidae.) Both peppershrikes are olive green above and yellow ...
American food and beverage company that took its name in 1965, when the Pepsi-Cola Company merged with Frito-Lay, Inc. The company's headquarters are in Purchase, New York.
lesion that occurs primarily in the mucous membrane of the stomach or duodenum (the upper segment of the small intestine); it is produced when external factors reduce the ability of ...
any organic substance of which the molecules are structurally like those of proteins, but smaller. The class of peptides includes many hormones, antibiotics, and other compounds that participate in the ...
English diarist and naval administrator, celebrated for his Diary (first published in 1825), which gives a fascinating picture of the official and upper-class life of Restoration London from Jan. 1, ...
any member of a group of Algonquian-speaking Indians who lived in the Thames valley in what is now Connecticut, U.S.; in the 1600s their population was estimated to be 2,200. ...
ancient Egyptian capital in the 15th, 19th, and 20th dynasties. Situated in the northeastern delta about 62 miles (100 km) northeast of Cairo, the city lay in ancient times on ...
botanical garden in Peradeniya, near Kandy, Sri Lanka, noted for its rich and varied collections of tropical woody plants. Occupying 59 hectares (146 acres), it has about 4,000 species of ...
traditional region, northwestern West Malaysia (Malaya), bordering Thailand to the north and fronting the Strait of Malacca to the west. Its area includes a large portion of West Malaysia's west-coast ...
(c. 1874-76), rebellion against the British by a group of dissident Malay chiefs that culminated in the assassination in 1875 of James Birch, the first British resident (adviser) in Perak. ...
bendahara (chief minister) of the port city of Malacca (now Melaka in Malaysia), who was kingmaker and the effective ruler of that important East Indies trade centre from 1456 until ...
in Indonesia, a native-born person of mixed Indonesian and foreign ancestry. There are several kinds of Peranakans in Indonesia, namely Peranakan Chinese, Peranakan Arabs, Peranakan Dutch, and Peranakan Indians. The ...
city, Gaspesie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. It lies along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at the east end of the Gaspe Peninsula. First visited in 1534 by Jacques Cartier, ...
in humans, the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized experience. That experience, or percept, is the joint product of the stimulation and of the process itself. Relations found ...
the tendency of animals and humans to see familiar objects as having standard shape, size, colour, or location regardless of changes in the angle of perspective, distance, or lighting. The ...
hero of Arthurian romance, distinguished by his quality of childlike (often uncouth) innocence, which protected him from worldly temptation and set him apart from other knights in Arthur's fellowship. This ...
either of two species of fish, the common and the yellow perch (Perca fluviatilis and P. flavescens, sometimes considered as single species, P. fluviatilis) of the family Percidae (order Perciformes). ...
region of northern France on the border of Normandie, mainly in the east of the Orne departement, with extensions into neighbouring departements. Formerly a county, it was united to the ...
boulder balanced on a pinnacle rock, another boulder, or in some other precarious position. Some perched rocks form in place, as where rainwash (and in some cases wind) has removed ...
heavy draft-horse breed that originated in the Perche region of France. The breed probably stems from the Flemish "great horse" of the Middle Ages; modified by Oriental blood to develop ...
any of the species of the tribe Cairinini, family Anatidae (order Anseriformes), waterfowl that typically inhabit wet woodlands, nest in holes in trees, and perch on branches by means of ...
pair of French architects and interior designers who carried out many building and decorative projects during the reign of Napoleon I and helped create the influential Empire style (q.v.) of ...
any member of the order Perciformes, a group of bony fishes with more than 6,000 species placed in about 150 families. The order is the largest group of fishes in ...
in medicine, diagnostic procedure that entails striking the body directly or indirectly with short, sharp taps of a finger or, rarely, a hammer. The procedure was first described in 1761 ...
any musical instrument belonging to either of two groups, idiophones or membranophones. Idiophones are instruments whose own substance vibrates to produce sound (as opposed to the strings of a guitar ...
English rebel who led the most serious of the uprisings against King Henry IV (reigned 1399-1413). His fame rests to a large extent on his inclusion as a major character ...
English antiquarian and bishop whose collection of ballads, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), awakened widespread interest in English and Scottish traditional songs.
(Elaphurus davidianus), large, rare Asian deer, family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla). The only member of its genus, it is unknown in nature within historic times. Presumably native to northern China, it ...
American avant-garde art rock band generally considered to be a major force and influence in postpunk music. The original members were David Thomas (b. June 14, 1953), Peter Laughner (b. ...
Spanish writer, the acknowledged leader of the modern Spanish regional novelists. Born of a family noted for its fervent Catholicism and its traditionalism, Pereda looked an authentic hidalgo. An older ...
(Russian: The Wanderers), group of Russian painters who in the second half of the 19th century rejected the restrictive and foreign-inspired classicism of the Russian Academy to form a new ...
an anonymous and incomplete account of a western European nun's travels in the Middle East, written for her colleagues at home, near the end of the 4th century. It gives ...
the most widely distributed bird of prey species, with breeding populations on every continent and many oceanic islands. Sixteen subspecies are recognized.
city, capital of Risaralda departamento, west-central Colombia. It is situated in the western foothills of the Cordillera Central above the Cauca River valley. It was founded in 1863 on the ...
outstanding Portuguese military leader, known also as the Holy Constable, whose victory over Castilian forces in the historic Battle of Aljubarrota (Aug. 14, 1385) assured his nation's independence.
Polish-born Israeli statesman, who served as prime minister of Israel (1984-86 and 1995-96) and leader of the Israel Labour Party (1977-92, 1995-97, and 2003-05). In 1993, in his role as ...
genus of about 20 species of trees, shrubs, and vines, family Cactaceae, native to the West Indies, Mexico, and Central and South America, especially coastal areas. Leafy cactus (P. aculeata), ...
prolific writer of poems, short stories, drama, humorous sketches, and satire who was instrumental in raising the standard of Yiddish literature to a high level.
(Jan. 18 [Jan. 8, Old Style], 1654), act undertaken by the rada (council) of the Cossack army in Ukraine to submit Ukraine to Russian rule, and the acceptance of this ...
city, Kiev oblast (province), Ukraine. Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskyy has existed since the 10th century, when it was known as Pereyaslav-Russky. It was a border stronghold of the Kievan state but was overrun ...
Spanish poet, moralist, and historian, author of the first important work of history and historiography in Spanish. His historical portraits of his contemporaries earned him the title of the "Spanish ...
Spanish writer, author of Historia de los vandos de los Zegries y Abencerrages (1595-1619; "History of the Zegries and Abencerrages Factions"), usually referred to as Guerras civiles de Granada ("The ...
