(Italian: "in the church style"), performance of a polyphonic (multipart) musical work by unaccompanied voices. Originally referring to sacred choral music, the term now refers to secular music as well.
in Spanish literature, the recasting of a secular work as a religious work, or, more generally, a treatment of a secular theme in religious terms through the use of allegory, symbolism, and metaphor. Adaptations a lo divino were popular during ...
in Western philosophy since the time of Immanuel Kant, knowledge that is independent of all particular experiences, as opposed to a posteriori knowledge, which derives from experience alone. The Latin phrases apriori ("from what is before") and a posteriori ...
the third and most favoured wife of the Prophet Muhammad (the founder of Islam), who played a role of some political importance after the Prophet's death.
pre-Islamic poet whose qasidah ("ode") is included by the critic Abu 'Ubaydah (d. 825) in the celebrated Mu'allaqat, a collection of seven pre-Islamic qasidahs, each of which was considered by its author to be his best; the contents of the ...
city in Heilungkiang sheng (province), China. Located southeast of Harbin (Ha-erh-pin) in the basin of the A-shih River, it is a collecting and commercial centre for a rich agricultural district that provides part of Harbin's food supply. A-ch'eng is also ...
mountain range in southern Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. Branching off from the Kunlun Mountains, the range runs from southwest to northeast to form the boundary between the Tarim Basin to the north and the minor basin of Lake ...
one of three regions into which the area of central Asia inhabited by Tibetans is traditionally divided. During the 7th to 9th centuries, the central Tibetan kingdom was extended until it reached the Tarim Basin on the north, China on ...
city, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), western Germany. Its municipal boundaries coincide on the west with the frontiers of Belgium and The Netherlands. It was a royal residence of the emperor Charlemagne, and it served as the principal ...
city, Baden-Wurttemberg Land (state), southern Germany, on the Kocher River, at the northern foot of the Schwabische Alb (Swabian Alps), 30 miles (48 km) north of Ulm. It originated around a large Roman fort, much of which remains; nearby are ...
gemeente (commune), Noord-Holland provincie, western Netherlands, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Amsterdam, on the Ring Canal and Westeinder Lake, a remnant of Haarlem Lake. The older part of the town is on peaty soil at about sea level, surrounded ...
municipality, East Flanders province, north-central Belgium, on the Dender River, 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Brussels. The town hall (begun in the middle of the 12th century), with its 52-bell carillon, is the oldest in Belgium, and its archives ...
Finnish architect, city planner, and furniture designer whose international reputation rests on a distinctive blend of modernist refinement, indigenous materials, and personal expression in form and detail. His mature style is epitomized by the Saynatsalo, Fin., town hall group (1950-52).
capital of Aargau canton, northern Switzerland, at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, on the right bank of the Aare River, west of Zurich. Founded about 1240 by the counts of Kyburg, it passed to the Habsburgs in 1264 ...
stocky African mammal found south of the Sahara Desert in savanna and semiarid areas. The name aardvark-Afrikaans for "earth pig"-refers to its piglike face and burrowing habits. The aardvark weighs up to 65 kg (145 pounds) and measures up to ...
insectivorous carnivore that resembles a small striped hyena. The shy, mainly nocturnal aardwolf lives on the arid plains of Africa. There are two geographically separate populations, one centred in South Africa and the other in East Africa.
tributary of the Rhine and the longest stream (183 miles [295 km]) entirely within Switzerland; it drains an area of 6,865 square miles (17,779 square km). The river rises in the Aare Glacier of the Bernese Alps in Bern canton, ...
canton, northern Switzerland. It borders Germany to the north and is bounded by the demicanton of Basel-Laandschaft and by the cantons of Solothurn and Bern to the west, Luzern to the south, and Zug and Zurich to the east. It ...
the traditional founder and head of the Jewish priesthood, who, with his brother Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt. The figure of Aaron as it is now found in the Pentateuch is built up from several sources of traditions. ...
theologian of Constantinople (now Istanbul), the only scholar to seek a philosophical basis for Karaite beliefs. Karaism, a Jewish movement originating in 8th-century Iran, rejected the oral tradition and challenged the authority of the Talmud, the rabbinical compendium of law, ...
American professional baseball player who, during 23 seasons in the major leagues (1954-76), surpassed batting records set by some of the greatest hitters in the game, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Stan Musial.
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the lesser of the two categories of priests, concerned principally with church finances and administration. See Mormon.
in literature, the practice of beginning a poetic narrative at the earliest possible chronological point. The Latin poet and critic Horace approvingly notes in Ars poetica that Homer does not begin a tale of the Trojan War with the twin ...
city, Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the west bank of the Aba River, at the intersection of roads from Port Harcourt, Owerri, Umuahia, Ikot Ekpene, and Ikot Abasi (Opobo). Aba was a traditional market town for the Igbo ...
(Musa textilis), plant of the family Musaceae, and its fibre, which is second in importance among the leaf fibre (q.v.) group. Abaca fibre, unlike most other leaf fibres, is obtained from the plant leaf stalks (petioles). Although sometimes known as ...
calculating device, probably of Babylonian origin, that was long important in commerce. It is the ancestor of the modern calculating machine and computer.
city, extreme southwestern Iran. The city is situated in Khuzestan, part of the oil-producing region of Iran. Abadan lies on an island of the same name along the eastern bank of the Shatt Al-'Arab (river), 33 miles (53 km) from ...
ancient town in the northeast corner of Phocis, Greece. The town was famous for its oracle of Apollo, which was one of those consulted by the Lydian king Croesus. Although the Persians sacked and burned the temple in 480 BC, ...
Manchurian tribal leader who, in 1636, became emperor of the Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese in Manchuria and, for his family, adopted the name of Ch'ing.
coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. Comprising six islets in the northern Gilberts with a total land area of 6 square miles (16 square km), the atoll has a lagoon (16 by ...
volcanic segment of the Colorado Plateau, in San Juan county, southeastern Utah, U.S. Abajo Peak (11,362 feet [3,463 metres]) is the highest point in the mountains, which comprise eight summits and are embraced by the Manti-LaSal National Forest. The heavily ...
town, Enugu state, southeastern Nigeria. It lies at the intersection of roads from Enugu, Afikpo, and Ogoja. An agricultural trade centre (yams, cassava, rice, and palm oil and kernels) for the Igbo (Ibo) people, the town is located in an ...
city and administrative centre of the republic of Khakassia, south-central Russia. The city lies on the left bank of the Abakan River near its confluence with the Yenisey River. The starting point of a southern Siberian railway line (opened in ...
any of several marine snails of the subclass Prosobranchia (class Gastropoda) constituting the genus Haliotis and family Haliotidae, in which the shell has a row of holes on its outer surface. Abalones are one-shelled snails found in warm seas worldwide. ...
capital of Apurimac departamento, Inca region, southern Peru. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Marino River at 7,798 feet (2,377 metres) above sea level, in a cool, dry intermontane basin. The ...
in Anglo-American property law, the relinquishment of possession of property with an intent to terminate all ownership interests in that property. Abandonment may occur by throwing away the property, by losing it and making no attempt to retrieve it, by ...
in law, the interruption of a legal proceeding upon the pleading by a defendant of a matter that prevents the plaintiff from going forward with the suit at that time or in that form. Pleas in abatement raise such matters ...
language spoken primarily in the western part of the Caucasus Mountains and in northeastern Turkey. Abaza is related to Abkhaz, Adyghian, Kabardian (Circassian), and Ubykh, which constitute the Abkhazo-Adyghian, or Northwest Caucasian, language group. These languages are noted for the ...
Muslim-Arab dynasty of Andalusia that arose in Sevilla (Seville) in the 11th century, in the period of the factions, or "party kingdoms" (ta'ifahs), following the downfall of the caliphate of Cordoba.
two brothers who, as geographers and travelers, conducted extensive investigations of the geography, geology, archaeology, and natural history of Ethiopia.
Italian conductor and music director of the Vienna State Opera (1986-91) and principal conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (from 1971), the London Symphony Orchestra (1979-88), and the Berlin Philharmonic (from 1989).
shah of Persia from 1588 to 1629, who strengthened the Safavid dynasty by expelling Ottoman and Uzbek troops from Persian soil and by creating a standing army. He also made Esfahan the capital of Persia and fostered commerce and the ...
