Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Aepyornis ... Affenkapelle ware

Aepyornis: extinct genus of giant flightless birds found as fossils in Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene deposits on the island of Madagascar. The remains of Aepyornis are abundant. The several known species were massively constructed, with conical beaks, short, thick legs, three-toed feet, ...
Aequi: ancient people of Italy originally inhabiting the region watered by the tributaries of the Avens River (modern Velino). Long hostile to Rome, they became especially menacing in the 5th century BC, advancing to the Alban Hills. Although repulsed by the ...
Aer Lingus: national airline of Ireland, comprising two government-owned companies: (1) Aer Lingus Teoranta, incorporated in 1936 and operating air services within Ireland and between Ireland and Britain and continental Europe, and (2) Aerlinte Eireann Teoranta, incorporated in 1947 and operating air ...
aerarium: treasury of ancient Rome, housed in the Temple of Saturn and the adjacent tabularium (record office) in the Forum. Under the republic (c. 509-27 BC) it was managed by two finance magistrates, the urban quaestors, and controlled by the Senate. ...
aerial perspective: method of creating the illusion of depth, or recession, in a painting or drawing by modulating colour to simulate changes effected by the atmosphere on the colours of things seen at a distance. Although the use of aerial perspective has ...
aerial photography: technique of photographing the Earth's surface or features of its atmosphere or hydrosphere with cameras mounted on aircraft, rockets, or Earth-orbiting satellites and other spacecraft.
aerobatics: maneuvers in which an aircraft is flown under precise control in unusual attitudes (the position of an aircraft determined by the relationship between its axes and a reference such as the horizon). A myriad of aerobatic maneuvers exist, some of ...
aerobics: system of physical conditioning that increases the efficiency of the body's intake of oxygen, thereby stimulating the cardiovascular system, developing endurance, and reducing body fat. Increased energy, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, greater suppleness, stronger bones, better posture, and decreased ...
aerodynamics: branch of physics that deals with the motion of air and other gaseous fluids and with the forces acting on bodies passing through such a fluid. Aerodynamics seeks, in particular, to explain the principles governing the flight of aircraft, rockets, ...
Aeroflot: Russian airline that was formerly the national airline of the Soviet Union.
aerophone: any of a class of musical instruments in which a vibrating mass of air produces the initial sound. The basic types include woodwind, brass, and free-reed instruments, as well as instruments that fall into none of these groups, such as ...
Aerosmith: American heavy metal band. One of the biggest arena-rock attractions of the late 1970s, Aerosmith became even more popular with its career revival in the mid-1980s. Principal members were Steven Tyler (byname of Steven Tallarico; b. March 26, 1948, New ...
aerosol: a system of liquid or solid particles uniformly distributed in a finely divided state through a gas, usually air. Aerosol particles play an important role in the precipitation process, providing the nuclei upon which condensation and freezing take place. They ...
aerosol container: any package, usually a metal can or plastic bottle, designed to dispense its liquid contents as a mist or foam. This type of container was developed in 1941 by the American chemist Lyle D. Goodhue and others for dispensing insecticides. ...
aerospace engineering: field of engineering concerned with the design, development, construction, testing, and operation of vehicles operating in the Earth's atmosphere or in outer space. In 1958 the first definition of aerospace engineering appeared, considering the Earth's atmosphere and the space above ...
aerospace industry: assemblage of manufacturing concerns that deal with vehicular flight within and beyond the Earth's atmosphere. (The term aerospace is derived from the words aeronautics and spaceflight.) The aerospace industry is engaged in the research, development, and manufacture of flight vehicles, ...
aerospace medicine: specialized branch of medical science concerned with those medical problems encountered in human flight in the atmosphere (aviation medicine) and beyond the atmosphere (space medicine).
Aeschbacher, Hans: Swiss sculptor of severe and massive abstract forms.
Aeschines: Athenian orator who advocated peace with Philip II of Macedonia and who was a bitter political opponent of the statesman Demosthenes.
Aeschylus: first of classical Athens' great tragic dramatists, who raised that emerging art to great heights of poetry and theatrical power.
Aesir: in Scandinavian mythology, either of two main groups of deities, four of whom were common to the Germanic nations: Odin (q.v.), chief of the Aesir; Frigg (q.v.), Odin's wife; Tyr (q.v.), god of war; and Thor (q.v.), whose name was ...
Aesop: the supposed author of a collection of Greek fables, almost certainly a legendary figure. Various attempts were made in ancient times to establish him as an actual personage. Herodotus in the 5th century BC said that he had lived in ...
Aesopus, Claudius: most eminent of the Roman tragedians, contemporary and intimate friend of Cicero, whom he instructed in elocution, and regarded by Horace as the equal of the great Roman comic actor Roscius. Aesopus became completely absorbed in his roles; the biographer ...
aesthetic distance: the frame of reference that an artist creates by the use of technical devices in and around the work of art to differentiate it psychologically from reality. German playwright Bertolt Brecht built his dramatic theory known in English as the ...
Aestheticism: late 19th-century European arts movement which centred on the doctrine that art exists for the sake of its beauty alone, and that it need serve no political, didactic, or other purpose.
aesthetics: the philosophical study of beauty and taste. To define its subject matter more precisely is, however, immensely difficult. Indeed, it could be said that self-definition has been the major task of modern aesthetics. We are acquainted with an interesting and ...
Aeterni Patris: an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on Aug. 4, 1879, which strengthened the position of the philosophical system of the medieval Scholastic philosopher-theologian St. Thomas Aquinas and soon made Thomism the dominant philosophical viewpoint in Roman Catholicism.
Aethelbald: king of Wessex (from 855/856), the son of Aethelwulf, with whom he led the West Saxons to victory against the Danes at Aclea (851). He reportedly rebelled against his father either before (855) or on the latter's return from Rome ...
Aethelbald: king of the Mercians from 716, who became the chief king of a confederation including all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms between the River Humber and the English Channel. His predominance was made possible by the death of the strong king Wihtred ...
Aethelberht: king of the West Saxons, or Wessex, who succeeded to the subkingdom of Kent during the lifetime of his father Aethelwulf and retained it until the death of his elder brother Aethelbald in 860, when he became sole king of ...
Aethelberht I: king of Kent (560-616) who issued the first extant code of Anglo-Saxon laws, a code that established the legal position of the clergy and many secular regulations. Aethelberht's marriage to Bertha (or Berhta), daughter of Charibert, king of Paris, and ...
Aethelflaed: Anglo-Saxon ruler of Mercia in England.
Aethelfrith: king of Bernicia (from 592/593) and of Deira, which together formed Northumbria.
Aetheling: in Anglo-Saxon England, generally any person of noble birth. Use of the term was usually restricted to members of a royal family, and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it is used almost exclusively for members of the royal house of Wessex. ...
Aethelred: king of Mercia, who was a benefactor of many churches in his several provinces and at last retired to a monastery.
Aethelred I: king of Wessex and of Kent (865/866-871), son of Aethelwulf of Wessex.
Aethelweard: English chronicler and ealderman of the western provinces (probably the whole of Wessex), a descendant of King Alfred's brother Aethelred. He wrote, in elaborate and peculiar Latin, a chronicle for his continental kinswoman, Matilda, abbess of Essen. In the printed ...
Aethelwulf: Anglo-Saxon king in England, the father of King Alfred the Great. As ruler of the West Saxons from 839 to 856, he allied his kingdom of Wessex with Mercia and thereby withstood invasions by Danish Vikings.
Aethra: in Greek mythology, daughter of King Pittheus of Troezen, who married her to Aegeus, king of Athens. She became mother of Theseus by Aegeus or by Poseidon, who had ravished her in Troezen. (The two versions may reflect the ancient ...
Aetius: Syrian bishop and heretic who, during the theological controversies over the Christian Trinity, founded the extreme Arian sect of the Anomoeans (q.v.). His name became a byword for radical heresy.
Aetius, Flavius: Roman general and statesman who was the dominating influence over Valentinian III (emperor 425-455).
Aetolia: district of ancient Greece, located directly north of the Gulf of Corinth and bounded by Epirus (north), Locris (east), and Acarnania (west). In modern Greece, Aetolia is linked with Acarnania in the department of Aitolia kai Akarnania. Aetolia, particularly its ...
Aetolia and Acarnania: nomos (department) in west central Greece, with an area of 2,103 square miles (5,447 square km); the capital of the department is Mesolongion on the Patraikos Kolpos (gulf) in Aetolia. The nomos produces tobacco, ...
Aetolian League: federal state or "sympolity" of Aetolia, in ancient Greece. Probably based on a looser tribal community, it was well-enough organized to conduct negotiations with Athens in 367 BC. It became by c. 340 one of the leading military powers in ...
Afanasev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich: historian and scholar of Russian folklore known for his compilation of Russian folktales.
Afar: a people of the Horn of Africa who speak Saho, a language of the Eastern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) family. They live in northeastern Ethiopia and in Djibouti, where, with the Issas, they are the dominant people. ...
Affair of the Diamond Necklace: scandal at the court of Louis XVI in 1785 that discredited the French monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution. It began as an intrigue on the part of an adventuress, the comtesse (countess) de La Motte, to procure, ...
affections, doctrine of the: theory of musical aesthetics, widely accepted by late Baroque theorists and composers, that embraced the proposition that music is capable of arousing a variety of specific emotions within the listener. At the centre of the doctrine was the belief that, ...
affective disorder: mental disorder characterized by dramatic changes or extremes of mood. Affective disorders may include manic (elevated, expansive, or irritable mood with hyperactivity, pressured speech, and inflated self-esteem) or depressive (dejected mood with disinterest in life, sleep disturbance, agitation, and feelings ...
affective fallacy: according to the followers of New Criticism, the misconception that arises from judging a poem by the emotional effect that it produces in the reader. The concept of affective fallacy is a direct attack on impressionistic criticism, which argues that ...
Affenkapelle ware: (German: "Monkey Orchestra"), a series of figures created by the Meissen porcelain factory in Saxony (now in Germany) about 1747 and imitated later. Believed to be a parody of the Dresden Court Orchestra, the set was modeled by the German ...