Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Afrikaner-Broederbond ... Agatho, Saint

Afrikaner-Broederbond: South African secret society composed of Afrikaans-speaking, Protestant, white men over the age of 25. Although its political power is evident throughout South African society, its rituals and membership-by invitation only-remain secret.
Afro-Asiatic languages: family of genetically related languages that developed from a common parent language which presumably existed about the 6th-8th millennium BC and was perhaps located in the present-day Sahara. The Afro-Asiatic group is the main language family of northern Africa and ...
Afrocentrism: cultural and political movement whose mainly African American adherents regard themselves and all other blacks as syncretic Africans and believe that their worldview should positively reflect traditional African values. The terms Afrocentrism, Afrocology, and Afrocentricity were coined in the 1980s ...
AFSC: see American Friends Service Committee.
Aftasid dynasty: Muslim Berber dynasty that ruled one of the party kingdoms (ta'ifahs) at Badajoz in western Spain (1022-94) in the period of disunity after the demise of the Umayyad caliphate of Cordoba. The Lower Frontier (modern central Portugal) ...
Aftenposten: (Norwegian: "Evening Post"), morning and evening daily newspaper published in Oslo. It is one of the leading newspapers in Norway and in all Scandinavia.
afterburner: second combustion chamber in a turbojet (q.v.) or turbofan engine, immediately in front of the engine's exhaust nozzle. The injection and combustion of extra fuel in this chamber provide additional thrust for takeoff or supersonic flight. In most cases the ...
afterimage: visual illusion in which retinal impressions persist after the removal of a stimulus, believed to be caused by the continued activation of the visual system. The afterimage may be positive, corresponding in colour or brightness to the original image, or ...
afterpiece: supplementary entertainment presented after full-length plays in 18th-century England. Afterpieces usually took the form of a short comedy, farce, or pantomime, and were intended to lighten the solemnity of Neoclassical drama and make the bill more attractive to audiences. Long ...
afterripening: complex enzymatic and biochemical process that certain plant embryos must undergo before they will germinate. It results at least in part from rapid and extensive water loss because of the conversion of soluble nutrients to their stored forms. This interruption ...
Aftonian Interglacial Stage: major division of Pleistocene deposits and time (1,600,000 to 10,000 years ago) in North America. The Aftonian Interglacial, a time of relatively moderate climatic conditions, followed the Nebraskan Glacial Stage and preceded the Kansan Glacial Stage, both times of widespread ...
Afula: largest city of the Plain of Esdraelon, or Valley of Jezreel (Hebrew: 'Emeq Yizre'el), northern Israel. Named for the Arab village of Al-'Affula formerly at that site, it is sometimes called 'Ir Yizre'el ("City of Jezreel"). It was founded in ...
Afyon: city, western Turkey. It lies along the Akar River at an elevation of 3,392 feet (1,034 m). In ancient times the town was known as Acroenus. It fell to the Seljuq Turks in the 13th century and was renamed Karahisar ...
AG catalog: (AGK; "Astronomical Society Catalog"), compilation of the positions of all stars brighter than the ninth magnitude, compiled by the Astronomische Gesellschaft of Germany. Friedrich W.A. Argelander, founder of the society, proposed the star catalog in 1867, after completing the Bonner ...
aga: in Turkey, person of high rank or social position, especially during the era of the Ottoman Empire. Combined with the names of military units or administrative departments, it formed the official titles borne by the chief officers of the Janissaries ...
Aga Khan I: imam, or spiritual leader, of the Nizari Isma'ilite sect of the Shi'ite Muslims. He claimed to be directly descended from 'Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and 'Ali's wife Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter, and also from the Fatimid caliphs of ...
Aga Khan II: eldest son of the Aga Khan I. In 1881 he succeeded his father as imam, or spiritual leader, of the Nizari Isma'ilite sect of Shi'ite Muslims, and, during his short imamate, sought to improve the conditions of the community.
Aga Khan III: only son of the Aga Khan II. He succeeded his father as imam (leader) of the Nizari Isma'ili sect in 1885.
Aga Khan IV: elder son of Prince Aly Khan by his first wife, Joan Yarde-Buller, the daughter of the 3rd Baron Churston. Educated in Switzerland and at Harvard University, he was chosen as successor to the imamate of the Nizari Isma'ili sect by ...
Aga-Buryat: autonomous okrug (district), Chita oblast (province), southeastern Russia. It is situated along the left bank of the lower Onon River, a headstream of the Amur. Aga-Buryat was formed in 1937 for an exclave group of the Buryat people, who live ...
Agadez: town, central Niger, at the southern edge of the Air massif. Agadez is a market town at a crossroads, 460 miles (740 km) northeast of Niamey, the national capital. Once the seat of a Tuareg sultanate (dating from the 15th ...
Agadir: city, Atlantic port, southwestern Morocco. The city lies 6 miles (10 km) north of the mouth of the Sous Wadi. Possibly the site of the ancient Roman Portus Risadir, the city was occupied by the Portuguese from 1505 to 1541, ...
Agadir Incident: event involving a German attempt to challenge French rights in Morocco by sending the gunboat Panther to Agadir in July 1911. The action incited the Second Moroccan Crisis (see Moroccan crises).
Agaie: town and traditional emirate, Niger state, west-central Nigeria. The town lies at the intersection of roads from Bida, Baro, Tagagi, Lapai, and Ebba. Originally inhabited by the Dibo (Ganagana, Zitako), a people associated with the Nupe, it fell under the ...
Agaja: third ruler of the West African kingdom of Dahomey (1708-40), who was able to extend his kingdom southward to the coast and who consolidated and centralized it through important administrative reforms.
Agalega Islands: two-island dependency of Mauritius, in the western Indian Ocean. It consists of North Island and South Island. They lie about 600 miles (1,000 km) north of Mauritius and have a total land area of 27 square miles (70 square km). ...
Agam, Yaacov: pioneer and leading exponent of optical and kinetic art, best known for his three-dimensional paintings and sculptures.
agama: any of about 30 species of lizards belonging to the family Agamidae (suborder Sauria). They are rather unspecialized lizards about 30 to 45 cm (12 to 18 inches) long exhibiting little development of crests or dewlaps. They inhabit rocky desert ...
Agama: post-Vedic scripture conveying ritual knowledge and considered to have been revealed by a personal divinity. Shaivite scriptures, dating probably to the 8th century, are particularly so designated, in contrast to the Vaishnava Samhitas and the Shakta Tantras. (Compare Shaivism, Vaishnavism, ...
Agamemnon: in Greek legend, king of Mycenae or Argos. He was the son (or grandson) of Atreus, king of Mycenae, and his wife Aerope and was the brother of Menelaus. After Atreus was murdered by his nephew Aegisthus (son of Thyestes), ...
Agamidae: lizard family composed of about 350 species in about 50 genera. Agamids typically have scaly bodies, well-developed legs, and a moderately long tail; average body size ranges from 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches), and the tail is ...
agape: in the New Testament, the fatherly love of God for mankind and mankind's reciprocal love for God. The term necessarily extends to the love of one's fellow man. The Church Fathers used agape to designate both a rite (using bread ...
Agapetus I, Saint: pope from 535 to 536. Of noble birth, he was an archdeacon at the time of his election (May 13, 535). At the urging of the Ostrogothic king Theodahad, he headed an unsuccessful mission to Constantinople to deter the emperor ...
Agapetus II: pope from 946 to 955. Elected on May 10, 946, he was a wise and pious administrator who endeavoured to restore ecclesiastical discipline. The chief events of his pontificate included the spread of Christianity in Denmark, the settlement of the ...
agar: gelatin-like product made primarily from the algae Gelidium and Gracilaria (red seaweeds). Best known as a solidifying component of bacteriological culture media, it is used also in canning meat, fish, and poultry; in cosmetics, medicines, and dentistry; as a clarifying ...
Agaricales: a large and important order of fungi (division Mycota) in the class Basidiomycetes (q.v.). The group contains about 16 families and 4,000 species. The best known family, Agaricaceae, has spore-bearing cells (basidia) located on thin sheets called gills. The familiar ...
Agartala: town, capital of Tripura state, northeastern India, lying near the Bangladesh border in an intensively cultivated plain. Situated astride the Haroa River amid numerous villages, it is the commercial centre of the area. A maharaja's palace, a temple, and four ...
Agarwala: important mercantile caste in India, belonging to that group of merchants, bankers, landowners, and shopkeepers that are called Bania in northern and western India. According to caste tradition, its members are descended from a naga, or snake goddess; hence, they ...
Agasias: sculptor of Ephesus, known for his "Borghese Warrior," a statue of a warrior on foot in combat with a warrior on horseback.
Agassiz, Alexander: marine zoologist, oceanographer, and mining engineer who made important contributions to systematic zoology, to the knowledge of ocean beds, and to the development of a major copper mine.
Agassiz, Elizabeth Cabot: American naturalist and educator who was the first president of Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Agassiz, Lake: largest of the ice-marginal lakes that once covered what are now parts of Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan in Canada, and North Dakota and Minnesota in the United States. It was present in the Pleistocene Epoch (a geological period that lasted ...
Agassiz, Louis: Swiss-born U.S. naturalist, geologist, and teacher who made revolutionary contributions to the study of natural science with landmark work on glacier activity and extinct fishes. He achieved lasting fame through his innovative teaching methods, which altered the character of natural ...
agate: common semiprecious silica mineral, a variety of chalcedony (q.v.) that occurs in bands of varying colour and transparency. Agate is essentially quartz, and its physical properties are in general those of that mineral. See silica mineral (table).
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument: natural "depository" of an extinct animal community on the Niobrara River in northwestern Nebraska, U.S., 40 miles (64 km) north of Scottsbluff. The beds were laid down as sedimentary deposits about 20 million years ago (Miocene Epoch) and bear the ...
Agate, James: drama critic for the London Sunday Times (1923-47), book reviewer for the Daily Express, novelist, essayist, diarist, and raconteur. He is remembered for his wit and perverse yet lovable personality, the sparkle and fundamental seriousness of his dramatic criticism, and ...
agateware: in pottery, 18th-century ware of varicoloured clay, with an overall marbled effect. It was sometimes called solid agate to distinguish it from ware with surface marbling. Agateware was probably introduced about 1730 by Dr. Thomas Wedgwood of Rowley's Pottery, Burslem, ...
Agatha, Saint: legendary Christian saint and martyr, cited in the martyrology of St. Jerome, the Calendar of Carthage (c. 530), and other works. Palermo and Catania both claim to be her birthplace.
Agathias: Byzantine poet and author of a history, covering part of Justinian I's reign.
Agathis: the genus of the dammar pines, pinelike plants of the family Araucariaceae. Agathis species range from the Philippines to Australia and New Zealand. Elsewhere some are grown as ornamental plants in warm areas or in greenhouses. Several species yield hard ...
Agatho, Saint: pope from 678 to 681. A cleric at Rome, he was elected pope in June 678. He judged that St. Wilfrid, bishop of York, had been unjustly deprived and ordered his restoration, and he received the submission of Exarch Theodore ...