family of Frankish aristocrats and the dynasty (AD 750-887) that they established to rule western Europe. The name derives from the large number of family members who bore the name Charles, most notably Charlemagne.
in calligraphy, clear and manageable script that was established by the educational reforms of Charlemagne in the latter part of the 8th and early 9th centuries. As rediscovered and refined in the Italian Renaissance by the humanists, the script survives ...
game played with three balls (two white and one red) on a table without pockets, in which the object is to drive one of the white balls (cue ball) into both of the other balls. Each carom thus completed counts ...
one of the few significant painters in France during the reigns of Charles IX and Henry III; his work is notable for reflecting the elegant but unstable Valois court during the Wars of Religion (1560-98).
river in Bolivar state, southeastern Venezuela. Its headwaters flow from the slopes of Mount Roraima in the Sierra Pacaraima, where Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana meet.
river in northwestern Trinidad, in the country of Trinidad and Tobago in the southern Caribbean Sea. It rises near Valencia on the southern edge of the Northern Range uplands and flows roughly west to empty via the saline mangrove channels ...
city, west-central Lara estado ("state"), northwestern Venezuela, on the Morere, an affluent of the Tocuyo River, west of Barquisimeto. It lies at 1,128 feet (344 m) above sea level. The city has a fine parish church, a Franciscan convent, and ...
poet and novelist whose contribution to the development of the German autobiographical novel was considered to be outstanding and unique in the 20th century.
any of several organic compounds widely distributed as pigments in plants and animals and converted in the livers of many animals into vitamin A. These pigments are unsaturated hydrocarbons (having many double bonds), belonging to the isoprenoid series. Several isomeric ...
yellow skin discoloration caused by excess blood carotene; it may follow overeating of such carotenoid-rich foods as carrots, sweet potatoes, or oranges.
any of a group of nonnitrogenous yellow, orange, or red pigments (biochromes) that are almost universally distributed in living things. There are two major types: the hydrocarbon class, or carotenes, and the oxygenated (alcoholic) class, or xanthophylls. Synthesized by bacteria, ...
American chemist who developed nylon, the first synthetic polymer fibre to be produced commercially (in 1938) and one that laid the foundation of the synthetic-fibre industry.
one of several arteries that supply blood to the head and neck. Of the two common carotid arteries, which extend headward on each side of the neck, the left originates in the arch of the aorta over the heart; the ...
(species Cyprinus carpio), hardy, greenish brown fish of the family Cyprinidae. It is native to Asia but has been introduced into Europe, North America, and elsewhere. A large-scaled fish with two barbels on each side of its upper jaw, the ...
any of several small angular bones that in humans make up the wrist (carpus), and in horses, cows, and other quadrupeds the "knee" of the foreleg. They correspond to the tarsal bones of the rear or lower limb. Their number ...
a painful condition caused by repetitive flexing or stressing of the wrist over a lengthy period of time. CTS is caused by pressure on the median nerve, which carries nervous impulses back and forth between the hand and the spinal ...
a geologically young European mountain chain forming the eastward continuation of the Alps. From the Danube Gap, near Bratislava, Slovakia, they swing in a wide crescent-shaped arc some 900 miles (1,450 kilometres) long to near Orsova, Romania, at the portion ...
phrase used by the Roman poet Horace to express the idea that one should enjoy life while one can. The sentiment has been expressed in many literatures, especially in 16th- and 17th-century English poetry. Two of the best-known examples are ...
the leading French sculptor of his time. His works, expressing a rhythm and variety that were in opposition to contemporary French academic sculpture, form a prelude to the sculpture of Auguste Rodin.
shallow, rectangular inlet of the Arafura Sea (part of the Pacific Ocean), indenting the northern coast of Australia. Neglected for centuries, the gulf became internationally significant in the late 20th century with the exploitation of its bauxite, manganese, and prawn ...
any of the insects of the family Xylocopidae (order Hymenoptera) found in most parts of the world. The small carpenter, Ceratina, is about six millimetres long and of metallic coloration. It nests in plant stems, which the female first hollows ...
style of architecture that utilized Gothic forms in domestic U.S. architecture in the mid-19th century. The houses executed in this phase of the Gothic Revival style show little awareness of and almost no concern for the original structure and proportions ...
any member of the small cosmopolitan insect family Cossidae (order Lepidoptera). Adults have vestigial mouthparts, long, thick bodies and gray to brown wings that are frequently mottled or spotted. The wingspan varies from under 2.5 centimetres (one inch) in the ...
second U.S. astronaut to make an orbital spaceflight. In Aurora 7 he made the fourth Mercury flight, circling the Earth three times on May 24, 1962. He directed part of the flight by manual control.
a leading Latin American literary figure, considered one of the best novelists of the 20th century. He was also a musicologist, an essayist, and a playwright. Among the first practitioners of the style known as "magic realism," he exerted a ...
the art and trade of cutting, working, and joining timber. The term includes both structural timberwork in framing and items such as doors, windows, and staircases.
(Axonopus affinis), mat-forming perennial grass of the family Poaceae, native to sandy soils in southeastern North America. Carpet grass reaches a height of 20-50 cm (8-20 inches). It is occasionally used as a lawn and pasture grass there and in ...
any of the plants of the genus Hypnum (subclass Bryidae), which form dense green mats in many habitats throughout the world, especially on decaying wood in moist areas. A few species are aquatic. There are about 20 North American species ...
any of several species of small, delicate moths belonging to the insect family Geometridae (order Lepidoptera). Together with the so-called pugs and waves, the carpet moths number about 12,000 species of Geometridae, occurring worldwide. Some carpet moths are active by ...
any of the approximately 25 species of sharks constituting the family Orectolobidae. They are found in all oceans but are concentrated in the Indo-Pacific and Australian regions. Many species are large, but they are not considered dangerous to humans, although ...
during the Reconstruction period (1865-77) following the American Civil War, any Northern politician or financial adventurer accused of going South to use the newly enfranchised freedmen as a means of obtaining office or profit. The epithet originally referred to an ...
town, Modena province, Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, north of Modena city. Carpi is distinguished by its great piazza, the largest in the region. Notable landmarks include the Renaissance town hall, formerly the castle of the Pio family, lords of ...
painter and printmaker, the first Italian practitioner of the art of the chiaroscuro woodcut, a technique involving the use of several wood blocks to make one print, each block cut to produce a different tone of the same colour.
follower of Carpocrates, a 2nd-century Christian Gnostic, i.e., a religious dualist who believed that matter was evil and the spirit good and that salvation was gained through esoteric knowledge, or gnosis. The sect flourished in Alexandria. Carpocratians revered Jesus not ...
member of an extinct group of unusual echinoderms (modern echinoderms include starfish, sea urchins, and sea lilies), known as fossils from rocks of Middle Cambrian to Early Devonian age (the Cambrian Period began about 540,000,000 years ago, and the Devonian ...
influential African-American blues singer, pianist, and composer of songs noted for their personal, original lyrics; several became long-time standards.
sociologist, demographer, and educational administrator who, as vice chancellor of the University of London, was largely responsible for establishing several overseas university colleges, some of which became independent universities. Among them were the universities of Khartoum, The Sudan; Malaya at ...
one of the most influential Italian painters of the first half of the 20th century. He is best known for his still lifes in the style of Metaphysical painting.
Italian painter who was influential in recovering the classicizing tradition of the High Renaissance from the affectations of Mannerism. He was the most talented of the three painters of the Carracci family.
