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Z particle ... zanni

Z particle: massive electrically neutral carrier particle of the weak force that acts upon all known subatomic particles. It is the neutral partner of the electrically charged W particle. The Z particle ...
za: in feudal Japan, any of the mercantile or craft guilds that flourished about 1100-1590. They did not become fully organized until the Muromachi period (1338-1573), when they began to monopolize ...
Zaanstad: gemeente (commune), western Netherlands. It lies along the Zaan River near its junction with the North Sea Canal. An industrial area 6 miles (10 km) northwest of ...
Zabid: town, western Yemen. It lies on the bank of the Wadi Zabid and at the eastern fringe of the Tihamah coastal plain, about 10 miles (16 km) from the Red ...
Zabrze: city, Slaskie wojewodztwo (province), southern Poland. It is situated in the Upper Silesian industrial district.
Zacapa: town, eastern Guatemala, situated at 738 feet (225 m) above sea level along the San Jose River. Although the town is old, it grew greatly in size and importance only ...
Zacapu: city, north-central Michoacan estado ("state"), west-central Mexico. It is in the Sierra de Nahuatzen, 6,500 feet (1,980 m) above sea level and west of Morelia, the state capital. Agriculture and ...
Zacatecas: estado ("state"), north-central Mexico. It is bordered by Coahuila on the north, San Luis Potosi on the east, Aguascalientes and Jalisco on the south, and Durango on the west. Its ...
Zacatecas: city, capital of Zacatecas estado (state), north-central Mexico. Located in the southern part of the state, it lies in a deep, narrow ravine, about 8,200 feet (2,500 ...
Zacatecoluca: city, southern El Salvador. It lies in the Lempa River valley, at the foot of San Vicente Volcano. A commercial centre for the surrounding agricultural area, it also trades in ...
Zaccaria, Benedetto: Genoese merchant, diplomat, and admiral, hero of a decisive Genoese naval victory over Pisa at Meloria (1284).
Zaccaria, Saint Antonio Maria: Italian priest, physician, and founder of the congregation of Clerks Regular of St. Paul, or Barnabites, a religious order devoted to the study of the Pauline Letters.
Zacconi, Lodovico: Italian musicologist, last of a distinguished line of Renaissance writers on music.
Zach, Franz Xaver, Freiherr von: (baron of) German-Hungarian astronomer patronized by Duke Ernst of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.
Zacharias, Saint: pope from 741 to 752.
Zachodniopomorskie: wojewodztwo (province), northwestern Poland. Created in 1999 as part of Poland's provincial reorganization, it comprises the former (1975-98) provinces of Szczecin and Koszalin, as well as portions ...
Zacynthus: island, southernmost and third largest of the Ionian Islands (q.v.) of Greece, lying off the west coast of the Peloponnese. Including the tiny Strotadhes Islands to the south, it constitutes ...
Zadar: picturesque historical town in Croatia, the former capital of Dalmatia. It is located on the end of a low-lying peninsula that is separated by the Zadar Channel from the islands ...
Zadkine, Ossip: Russian-born French sculptor known for his dramatic Cubist-inspired sculptures of the human figure.
Zaehner, R.C.: British historian of religion who investigated the evolution of ethical systems and forms of mysticism, particularly in Eastern religions.
Zafar: ancient Arabian site located southwest of Yarim in southern Yemen. It was the capital of the Himyarites, a tribe that ruled much of southern Arabia from about 115 BC to ...
Zafrulla Khan, Sir Muhammad: Pakistani politician, diplomat, and international jurist, known particularly for his representation of Pakistan at the United Nations (UN).
Zaghlul, Sa'd: Egyptian statesman and patriot, leader of the Wafd party and of the nationalist movement of 1918-19, which led Britain to give Egypt nominal independence in 1922. He was briefly prime ...
Zaghwan: town, northeastern Tunisia. It lies on the fertile, northern slope of Mount Zaghwan at an elevation of 4,247 feet (1,295 m). It is built on the ancient Roman site of ...
Zagreb: capital and chief city of Croatia. It is situated on the slopes of Medvednica Hill (Zagrebacka Gora) to the north and the floodplain of the Sava River to the south.
Zagreus: in Orphic myth, a divine child who was the son of Zeus (as a snake) and his daughter Persephone. Zeus intended to make Zagreus his heir and bestow on him ...
Zagros Mountains: mountain range in southwestern Iran, extending northwest-southeast from the Sirvan (Diyala) River to Shiraz. The Zagros range is about 550 miles (900 km) long and more than 150 miles (240 ...
Zagwe Dynasty: line of 12th- and 13th-century Ethiopian kings who combined a nomadic military life with an impassioned desire to build monuments to their Christian religion. Their tenuous pretensions to succession, based ...
Zaharias, Babe Didrikson: American sportswoman, one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century, performing in basketball, track and field, and later golf.
Zaharoff, Sir Basil: international armaments dealer and financier. Reputedly one of the richest men in the world, he was described as a "merchant of death" and the "mystery man of Europe."
Zahedan: city and capital of Sistan va Baluchestan province, southeastern Iran, near the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is situated about 225 miles (360 km) southeast of Kerman in an ...
Zahedi, Fazlollah: Iranian army officer and politician who was prime minister of Iran from 1953 to 1955.
Zahir Shah, Mohammad: king of Afghanistan from 1933 to 1973, who provided an era of stable government to his country.
Zahiriyah: followers of an Islamic legal and theological school that insisted on strict adherence to the literal text (zahir) of the Qur'an and Hadith (sayings and actions of ...
Zahlah: city, central Lebanon. It lies on the eastern slopes of the Lebanon Mountains, at an elevation of 3,150 feet (960 metres) above sea level. An agricultural market centre for the ...
Zahn, Ernst: Swiss writer, one of the contributors to the Heimatkunst ("homeland") movement-a literature striving for the reproduction of the life and atmosphere of the provinces. His realistic prose, though conventional, shows ...
zaibatsu: (Japanese: "wealthy clique"), any of the large capitalist enterprises of Japan before World War II, similar to cartels or trusts but usually organized around a single family. One zaibatsu might ...
Zakarpattya: oblast (province), western Ukraine. It is bounded by Slovakia and Hungary on the west, Poland on the northwest, and Romania on the south. The oblast extends from the northwest-southeast-trending Carpathian ...
zakat: an obligatory tax required of Muslims, one of the five Pillars of Islam. The zakat is levied on five categories of property-food grains; fruit; camels, cattle, sheep, and goats; gold ...
Zakopane: city, Malopolskie wojewodztwo (province), south-central Poland. The city is situated in the Carpathian Mountains near the Slovakian border. Its location at the foot of the Alpine-like Tatra ...
Zakrzewska, Marie Elizabeth: German-born American physician who founded the New England Hospital for Women and Children and contributed greatly to women's opportunities and acceptance as medical professionals.
Zala: megye (county), western Hungary. Zala has an area of 1,461 square miles (3,784 square km) and consists of wooded, undulating hill country. The Yugoslav border, partly defined by the Drava ...
Zalaegerszeg: town and seat of Zala megye (county), western Hungary. It lies on the right bank of the Zala River. The town was of medieval origin and was a frontier fort ...
Zalan: town site at the first exploited oil field in Libya. Located 105 miles (169 km) south of the Mediterranean port of Marsa al-Burayqah on the Gulf of Sidra, at the ...
Zalau: town, capital of Salaj judet (county), northwestern Romania. It is located in an isolated part of the country on the northwestern slopes of the Mezes Mountains. It is the terminal ...
zaltys: in ancient Baltic traditions, a harmless green snake highly respected as a symbol of fertility and wealth. To ensure the prosperity of family and field, a zaltys was kept in ...
Zama, Battle of: (202 BC), victory of the Romans led by Scipio Africanus the Elder over the Carthaginians commanded by Hannibal. It was the last and decisive battle of the Second Punic War. ...
Zamakhshari, Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn 'Umar al-: Persian-born Arabic scholar whose chief work is Al-Kashshaf 'an Haqa'iq at-Tanzil ("The Discoverer of Revealed Truths"), his exhaustive linguistic commentary on the Qur'an.
Zambales Mountains: volcanic range in the southwestern part of northern Luzon in the Philippines. The range stretches northwest-southeast from Lingayen Gulf in the north to the Bataan Peninsula and the entrance to ...
Zambezi River: river draining a large portion of south-central Africa. Together with its tributaries, it forms the fourth largest river basin of the continent. The river flows eastward for about 2,200 miles ...
Zambia: landlocked country in south-central Africa. It has an area of 290,586 square miles (752,614 square kilometres). Zambia has a long land border on the west with Angola but is divided ...
Zamboanga City: city and port, western Mindanao, Philippines. It is a busy port strategically located on the southwestern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula, on Basilan Strait and sheltered by Basilan Island. The ...
Zamboanga Peninsula: long, semicircular peninsula of western Mindanao, Philippines, extending southwesterly toward the Sulu Archipelago and Borneo. It has an area of roughly 5,600 square miles (14,500 square km). It is bordered ...
Zamenhof, L.L.: Polish physician and oculist who created the most important of the international artificial languages-Esperanto.
Zamia: a genus of 30 or more species of cycads (family Cycadaceae), small, stocky, fern-like plants native to tropical and subtropical America. They have a turniplike, mostly underground stem that in ...
zamindar: in India, a holder or occupier (dar) of land (zamin). The root words were Persian, and the resulting name was widely used wherever Persian influence was spread by the Mughals ...
Zamora: capital of Zamora province, in the autonomous community (region) of Castile-Leon, northwestern Spain. It lies along the northern bank of the Duero (Portuguese Douro) River, northwest of Madrid. The city ...
Zamora: province, Castile-Leon autonomous community and historic region, northwestern Spain. It was formed in 1833 from part of the historic province of Leon and is bounded by Portugal and Orense (west), ...
Zamora: city, northwestern Michoacan state, west-central Mexico. It lies at an elevation of 5,141 feet (1,567 m) above sea level in the Zamora valley, formed by the Duero River. It was ...
Zamora: town, southeastern Ecuador. Amid the forested jungles east of the main Andean ranges, the town lies at the southeastern foot of the Andean Cordillera de Zamora, just south of the ...
Zamosc: city, Lubelskie wojewodztwo (province), eastern Poland. One of the few large communities in the Lublin Uplands, it was founded on the estates of Polish chancellor Jan Zamoyski ...
Zamoyski Family: great Polish family whose members influenced Polish politics and history for almost 400 years.
Zamoyski, Jan: Polish advisor to King Sigismund II Augustus and Stephen Bathory and later an opponent of Sigismund III Vasa. He was a major force in the royal politics of Poland throughout ...
Zamyatin, Yevgeny Ivanovich: Russian novelist, playwright, and satirist, one of the most brilliant and cultured minds of the post-revolutionary period, and creator of a peculiarly modern genre-the anti-Utopian novel. His influence as an ...
Zanardelli, Giuseppe: Italian prime minister from 1901 to 1903 and an associate of the early-20th-century liberal leader Giovanni Giolitti; Zanardelli was a champion of parliamentary rights and followed a conciliatory policy toward ...
Zand Dynasty: (1750-79), Iranian dynasty that ruled southern Iran.
Zande: a people of central Africa who speak a language of the Adamawa-Ubangi branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Extending across the Nile-Congo drainage divide, they live partly in The Sudan, ...
Zane, Betty: American frontier heroine whose legend of valour in the face of attack by American Indians provided the subject of literary chronicle and fiction.
Zanesville: city, Muskingum county, east central Ohio, U.S., at the juncture of the Muskingum and Licking rivers (there spanned by the "Y" Bridge [1902]), 52 miles (84 km) east of Columbus. ...
Zangi: Iraqi ruler who founded the Zangid dynasty and led the first important counterattacks against the crusader kingdoms in the Middle East.
Zangid Dynasty: Muslim Turkish dynasty that was founded by Zangi (q.v.) and which ruled northern Iraq (al-Jazirah) and Syria in the period 1127-1222. After Zangi's death in 1146, his sons divided the ...
Zangwill, Israel: novelist, playwright, and Zionist leader, one of the earliest English interpreters of Jewish immigrant life.
Zanj rebellion: (AD 869-883), a black-slave revolt against the 'Abbasid caliphal empire. A number of Basran landowners had brought several thousand East African blacks (Zanj) into southern Iraq to drain the salt ...
Zanjan: geographic region of northwestern Iran. It lies west of Tehran and is bordered on the northwest by Azerbaijan and on the southwest by Kordestan. The region constitutes one of the ...
Zanjan: city, northwestern Iran. It lies in an open valley about halfway along the Tehran-Tabriz railway line. It is the principal city of the Zanjan region. It was ravaged by Mongols ...
zanni: stock servant character in the Italian improvisational theatre known as the commedia dell'arte. Zanni were valet buffoons, clowns, and knavish jacks-of-all-trades. All possessed common sense, intelligence, pride, ...