Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Shop

0-9

Tapachula ... tarn

Tapachula: city, southeastern Chiapas estado ("state"), extreme southeastern Mexico. It is on the Coatan River, on the Pacific coastal plain, at 449 feet (137 m) above sea level, 9.5 miles (15 ...
tapaculo: any of about 27 species of ground-dwelling birds of the family Rhinocryptidae (order Passeriformes) of Central and South America. When disturbed they scurry for cover with tail lifted. Tapaculos are ...
Tapajos River: central Brazil, formed by the union of the Teles Pires and the Juruena rivers, in north-central Mato Grosso state. It winds northward through the Mato Grosso plateau and forms the ...
tapas: (Sanskrit: "heat," or "ardour"), in Hinduism, ascetic practice voluntarily carried out to achieve spiritual power or purification. In the Vedas, tapas refers to the "inner heat" created by the practice ...
tape lace: lace in which the pattern is made up of tape set in a background either of thread bars (brides) or net. Its quality depends much on whether the tape used ...
tape recording: method of magnetic sound recording using magnetic tape. See magnetic recording.
tapestry: woven decorative fabric, the design of which is built up in the course of weaving. Broadly, the name has been used for almost any heavy material, handwoven, machine woven, or ...
tapeworm: any member of the invertebrate class Cestoda (phylum Platyhelminthes), a group of parasitic flatworms containing about 3,000 species. Tapeworms, which occur worldwide and range in size from about 1 mm ...
Tapies, Antoni: Catalan artist who is credited with introducing contemporary abstract painting into Spain. Beginning as a Surrealist, he developed into an abstract artist under the influence of French painting and achieved ...
Tapinocephalus: extinct genus of therapsids, or mammallike reptiles, found as fossils in Permian rocks of South Africa (the Permian Period occurred from 286 to 245 million years ago). The genus Tapinocephalus ...
Tapio: the Finnish god of the forest and ruler of the game therein. He was a personified form of the various forest spirits important to hunters dependent on the forest for ...
tapioca: a preparation of cassava-root starch used as a food, in bread or as a thickening agent in liquid foods, notably puddings but also soups and juicy pies.
tapir: any of four species of hoofed mammals, the only extant members of the family Tapiridae (order Perissodactyla), found in tropical forests of Malaysia and the New World. Heavy-bodied and rather ...
Tappa Hisar: Iranian archaeological site located near Damghan in northern Iran. Excavations made in 1931-32 by the University of Pennsylvania and in 1956 by the University of Tokyo demonstrated that the site ...
Tappan, Arthur: American philanthropist who used much of his energy and his fortune in the struggle to end slavery.
Tapti River: river in central India, rising in the Gawilgarh Hills of the central Deccan Plateau in south-central Madhya Pradesh state. It flows westward between two spurs of the Satpura Range, across ...
Taq-e Bostan: village in western Iran, just northeast of Kermanshah city. It is known for its rock carvings (bas-reliefs) of Sasanid origin (3rd to 7th century AD). The carvings, some of the ...
Taqi Khan, Mirza: prime minister of Iran in 1848-51, who initiated reforms that marked the effective beginning of the Westernization of his country.
taqiya: ("self-protection"), in Islam, the practice of concealing one's belief and foregoing ordinary religious duties when under threat of death or injury to oneself or one's fellow Muslims.
taqlid: ("covering with authority"), in Islamic law, the unquestioning acceptance of the legal decisions of another without knowing the basis of those decisions. There is a wide range of opinion about ...
taqsim: in Islamic music, free-form melodic improvisation, performed by solo voice or on a solo instrument, often a lute; or by the principal instruments of an orchestra playing in succession. The ...
tar: (Iranian: "string"), long-necked lute descended from the tanbur of Sasanian Iran and known in a variety of forms throughout the Middle East and parts of Asia. Its name traditionally signified ...
tar sand: deposit of loose sand or partially consolidated sandstone that is saturated with highly viscous bitumen. Oil recovered from tar sands is commonly referred to as synthetic crude and is a ...
Tar-Baby: sticky tar doll, the central figure in black American folktales popularized in written literature by the American author Joel Chandler Harris. Harris' "Tar-Baby" (1879), one of the animal tales told ...
Tara: Buddhist saviour-goddess with numerous forms, widely popular in Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. She is the feminine counterpart of the bodhisattva ("Buddha-to-be") Avalokitesvara. According to popular belief, she came into existence ...
Tara: (Irish: "Place of Assembly"), low hill (about 507 feet [154 m]) in County Meath, Ireland, occupying an important place in Irish legend and history. The earliest local remains consist of ...
Tara brooch: fine example of a Celtic ring brooch, found on the seashore at Bettystown, south of Drogheda, and now preserved in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. The Tara brooch, probably ...
Tara Singh: Sikh leader known chiefly for his advocacy of an autonomous Punjabi-speaking Sikh nation in the Punjab. He was a champion of Sikh rights against the dominant Hindus, Muslims, and British.
Taraba: state, eastern Nigeria. It was created in 1991 from the southwestern half of former Gongola state. Taraba is bordered on the north and northeast by Bauchi and Adamawa states, on ...
Tarafah: Arab poet, author of the longest of the seven odes in the celebrated collection of pre-Islamic poetry al-Mu'allaqat (see Mu'allaqat, al-). Some critics judge him to be the greatest of ...
Tarahumara: Middle American Indians of southwestern Chihuahua state in northern Mexico. Their language, which belongs to the Sonoran division of the Uto-Aztecan family, is most closely related to Yaqui and Mayo. ...
Tarai: region of northern India and southern Nepal running parallel to the lower Himalayan ranges. A strip of undulating former marshland, it stretches from the Yamuna River (west) to the Brahmaputra ...
Tarakan Island: island in northern Kalimantan Timur provinsi (East Kalimantan province), northern Indonesia. It is situated in the eastern Celebes Sea, off the northeastern coast of Borneo. The island ...
Tarakanova, Yelizaveta Alekseyevna: adventuress and pretender to the Russian throne who claimed to be the daughter of the unmarried empress Elizabeth (reigned 1741-62) and Count Aleksey G. Razumovsky.
Taraki, Nur Mohammad: Afghan politician who was president and prime minister of Afghanistan from 1978 to 1979.
Taranaki: local government region, west North Island, New Zealand. It is centred on the Taranaki Peninsula and extends north to the Mokau River and south and east to include the Waitotara ...
Taranis: (Celtic: "Thunderer"), powerful Celtic deity that was one of three mentioned by the Roman poet Lucan in the 1st century AD; the other two were Esus ("Lord") and Teutates ("God ...
tarantella: couple folk dance of Italy characterized by light, quick steps and teasing, flirtatious behaviour between partners; women dancers frequently carry tambourines. The music is in lively 68 time. Tarantellas for ...
Taranto: city, capital of Taranto provincia, Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy. The city lies at the base of the Salentine Peninsula on the northern inlet (Mare Grande) of the Gulf of ...
Taranto, Gulf of: arm, about 85 mi (140 km) long and wide, of the Ionian Sea in southern Italy. Lying between the Capes Santa Maria di Leuca (northeast) and Colonne (southwest), it forms ...
tarantula: any of numerous hairy and generally large spiders found in the southwestern United States, Mexico, and tropical America. Many tarantulas make burrows in soil and feed mainly at night on ...
Taraori, Battles of: series of engagements that opened all of North India to Muslim control. The battles were fought between Mu'izz-ud-Din Muhammad of Ghur and Prthviraja III, the Cauhan (Cahamana), Rajput ruler of ...
Tarapaca: northernmost region, Chile, bordering Peru and Bolivia on the north and east and fronting the Pacific Ocean on the west. Tarapaca was ceded to Chile by Peru after the War ...
Tarasco: Indian people of northern Michoacan state in central Mexico. The area in which the Tarasco live is one of high volcanic plateaus and lakes; the climate is arid and cool. ...
Tarascon: town, Bouches-du-Rhone departement, Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur region, southeastern France, east of Nimes. Situated on the left bank of the Rhone opposite Beaucaire, the town is associated with a legendary monster, La Tarasque, ...
Tarasov, Anatoly: Russian ice hockey coach whose innovations in Soviet hockey established the country as the dominant force in international competition. Known as the "father of Russian hockey," he guided the Soviet ...
Tarasova, Alla Konstantinovna: outstanding actress of the Moscow Art Theatre, noted for her lifelike, naturalistic portrayals.
taravana syndrome: form of decompression sickness that is most frequently seen in pearl divers in Japan and the Polynesian islands. These skin divers acquire their pearls by making breath-holding dives down to ...
Tarawa: coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands and capital of Kiribati. It lies in the west-central Pacific Ocean, 2,800 miles (4,500 km) northeast of Australia and is the most populous atoll ...
Tarbela Dam: giant rock-fill dam on the Indus River, Pakistan. Built between 1968 and 1976, it has a volume of 138,600,000 cubic yards (106,000,000 cubic m). With a reservoir capacity of 11,098,000 ...
Tarbell, Ida M.: investigative journalist, lecturer, and chronicler of American industry, best known for her classic The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904).
Tarbert: village at the head of East Loch Tarbert, an inlet on the west side of of Loch Fyne, Argyll and Bute council area, historic county of Argyllshire, Scotland. Its name ...
Tarbes: town, capital of Hautes-Pyrenees departement, Midi-Pyrenees region, southwestern France. It lies on the left bank of the Adour River, which descends from the Pyrenees into a fertile plain.
tarboosh: close-fitting, flat-topped, brimless hat shaped like a truncated cone. It is made of felt or cloth with a silk tassel and is worn especially by Muslim men throughout the eastern ...
Tarde, Gabriel: French sociologist and criminologist who was one of the most versatile social scientists of his time. His theory of social interaction ("intermental activity") emphasized the individual in an aggregate of ...
Tardieu, Andre: statesman who was three times premier of France and who attempted to carry on the policies of Georges Clemenceau in the aftermath of World War I.
tardigrade: any of about 350 species of free-living, cosmopolitan invertebrates belonging to the phylum Tardigrada. In evolutionary development they are considered to lie between annelid worms and arthropods (e.g., insects, crustaceans). ...
tare: noxious weed of the ryegrass (q.v.) genus Lolium.
Taree: city, northeastern New South Wales, Australia, 10 miles (16 km) above the coastal mouth of the Manning River. Established in 1854 as a private town, it was proclaimed a municipality ...
target theory: in biology, the concept that the biological effects of radiations such as X rays result from ionization (i.e., the formation of electrically charged particles) by individual quanta, or photons, of ...
Targoviste: city, capital of Dambovita judet (county), south-central Romania. It lies along the Ialomita River, in the southeastern Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians), 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Bucharest. Targoviste was ...
Targu Jiu: city, capital of Gorj judet (county), southwestern Romania, on the Jiu River. Formerly a Roman settlement, Targu Jiu was the property of boyars until the 19th century. After World War ...
Targu Mures: city, capital of Mures judet (county), north-central Romania. It lies in the valley of the Mures River, in the southeastern part of the Transylvanian Basin. First mentioned in the 14th ...
Targu-Neamt: town, Neamt judet (county), northeastern Romania, on the Neamt River. It has long been a local market centre and a major focus of culture in Moldavia. West of the town ...
Targum: (Aramaic: "Translation," or "Interpretation"), any of several translations of the Hebrew Bible or portions of it into the Aramaic language. The word originally indicated a translation of the Old Testament ...
Tarhun: ancient Anatolian weather god. His name appears in Hittite and Assyrian records (c. 1400-612 BC) and later as an element in Hellenistic personal names, primarily from Cilicia. Tarhunt was the ...
tariff: tax levied upon goods as they cross national boundaries, usually by the government of the importing country. The words tariff, duty, and customs can be used interchangeably.
Tarija: city, southern Bolivia, situated at 6,122 feet (1,866 m) above sea level in the Rio Grande de Tarija (Guadalquivir) Valley. Founded in 1574 by the conquistador Luis de Fuentes as ...
Tarim River: chief river of the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, extreme northwestern China. It lies immediately north of the Plateau of Tibet. The river gives its name to the great basin ...
Tariq ibn Ziyad: general who led the Muslim conquest of Spain.
tariqa: ("road," "path," or "way"), the Muslim spiritual path toward direct knowledge (ma'rifah) of God or Reality (haqq). In the 9th and 10th centuries tariqa meant the spiritual path of individual ...
Tarkington, Booth: American novelist and dramatist, best-known for his satirical and sometimes romanticized pictures of American Midwesterners.
Tarkovsky, Andrey Arsenyevich: Soviet motion-picture director whose films won acclaim in the West though they were censored by Soviet authorities at home.
Tarkwa: city, southwestern Ghana, western Africa. It is situated about 120 miles (190 km) west of Accra. Located in a predominantly agricultural and mining region, it is a marketing centre for ...
Tarlton, Richard: English actor, ballad writer, favourite jester of Queen Elizabeth I, and the most popular comedian of his age.
tarn: a small mountain lake, especially one set in a glaciated steep-walled amphitheatre known as a cirque (q.v.).