Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

350 results found

Stuart, James Ewell Brown

(Encyclopedia)Stuart, James Ewell Brown (Jeb Stuart), 1833–64, Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War, b. Patrick co., Va. Most of his U.S. army service was with the 1st Cavalry in Kansas. On Vir...

mausoleum

(Encyclopedia)mausoleum môsəlēˈəm [key], a sepulchral structure or tomb, especially one of some size and architectural pretension, so called from the sepulcher of that name at Halicarnassus, Asia Minor, erecte...

lynching

(Encyclopedia)lynching, unlawfully hanging or otherwise killing a person by mob action. The term is derived from the older term lynch law, which is most likely named after either Capt. William Lynch (1742–1820), ...

Ute

(Encyclopedia)Ute yo͞ot, yo͞oˈtē [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Shoshonean group of the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In t...

Indian wars

(Encyclopedia)Indian wars, in American history, general term referring to the series of conflicts between Europeans and their descendants and the indigenous peoples of North America. After 1860 the wars continued...

computer virus

(Encyclopedia)computer virus, rogue computer program, typically a short program designed to disperse copies of itself to other computers and disrupt those computers' normal operations. A computer virus usually atta...

nomad

(Encyclopedia)nomad nōˈmădˌ [key], one of a group of people without fixed habitation, especially pastoralists. (Some authorities prefer the terms “nonsedentary” or “migratory” rather than “nomadic” ...

mammal

(Encyclopedia)mammal, an animal of the highest class of vertebrates, the Mammalia. The female has mammary glands, which secrete milk for the nourishment of the young after birth. In the majority of mammals the body...

infantry

(Encyclopedia)infantry, body of soldiers who fight in an army on foot and are equipped with hand-carried weapons, in contradistinction originally to cavalry and other branches of an army. Infantry has often been di...

Browse by Subject