Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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catenary ... Catonsville

catenary: in mathematics, a curve that describes the shape of a flexible hanging chain or cable-the name derives from the Latin catenaria ("chain"). Any freely hanging cable or string assumes this shape, also called a chainette, if the ...
catenation: chemical linkage into chains of atoms of the same element, occurring only among the atoms of an element that has a valence of at least two and that forms relatively strong bonds with itself. The property is predominant among carbon ...
caterpillar: larva of a butterfly or moth (Lepidoptera). Caterpillars have cylindrical bodies consisting of 13 segments, with three pairs of legs on the thorax and several on the abdomen. The head has six eyes on each side, short antennae, and strong ...
Caterpillar Inc.: major American manufacturer of earth-moving, construction, agricultural, and materials-handling equipment. Its headquarters are in Peoria, Illinois.
Catesby, Robert: chief instigator of the Gunpowder Plot, a Roman Catholic conspiracy to blow up King James I and the English Parliament on Nov. 5, 1605.
catfish: any of the fishes of the order Siluriformes. Catfishes are related to the characins, carp, and minnows (order Cypriniformes) and may be placed with them in the superorder Ostariophysi. Some authorities, however, consider these groups suborders, rather than a single ...
catgut: tough cord made from the intestines of certain animals, particularly sheep, and used for surgical ligatures and sutures, for the strings of violins and related instruments, and for the strings of tennis rackets and archery bows. The ancient Egyptians and ...
Cathari: (from Greek katharos, "pure"), also spelled Cathars, heretical Christian sect that flourished in western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Cathari professed a neo-Manichaean dualism-that there are two principles, one good and the other evil, and that ...
catharsis: the purification or purgation of the emotions (especially pity and fear) primarily through art. In criticism, catharsis is a metaphor used by Aristotle in the Poetics to describe the effects of true tragedy on the spectator. The use is derived ...
Cathay: name by which North China was known in medieval Europe. The word is derived from Khitay (or Khitan), the name of a seminomadic people who left southeastern Mongolia in the 10th century AD to conquer part of Manchuria and northern ...
Cathaya: genus of evergreen coniferous trees of the family Pinaceae, containing two living species native to China and one fossil species found in Germany. Both living forms are about 20 metres (65 feet) tall and have two types of branchlets: long ...
cathedra: (Latin: "chair," or "seat"), Roman chair of heavy structure derived from the klismos-a lighter, more delicate chair developed by the ancient Greeks.
cathedral: in Christian churches that have an episcopal form of church government, the church in which a residential bishop has his official seat or throne, the cathedra. Cathedral churches are of different degrees of dignity. There are cathedral churches of simple ...
cathedral school: medieval European school run by cathedral clergy. Originally the function of such schools was to train priests, but later they taught lay students as well-usually boys of noble families being prepared for high positions in church, state, or commercial affairs. ...
Cather, Willa: American novelist noted for her portrayals of the settlers and frontier life on the American plains.
Catherine de Medicis: queen consort of Henry II of France (reigned 1547-59) and subsequently regent of France (1560-74), who was one of the most influential personalities of the Catholic-Huguenot wars. Three of her sons were kings of France: Francis II, Charles IX, and ...
Catherine Howard: fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England. Her downfall came when Henry learned of her premarital affairs.
Catherine I: peasant woman of Baltic (probably Lithuanian) birth who became the second wife of Peter I the Great (reigned 1682-1725) and empress of Russia (1725-27).
Catherine II: German-born empress of Russia (1762-96), who led her country into full participation in the political and cultural life of Europe, carrying on the work begun by Peter the Great. With her ministers she reorganized the administration and law of the ...
Catherine of Alexandria, Saint: one of the most popular early Christian martyrs. She is not mentioned before the 9th century, and her historicity is doubtful. According to the legend, she was an extremely learned young girl of noble birth who protested the persecution of ...
Catherine of Aragon: first wife of King Henry VIII of England (reigned 1509-47). The refusal of Pope Clement VII to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine triggered the break between Henry and Rome and led to the English Reformation.
Catherine of Bologna, Saint: Italian mystic and writer whose spiritual writings were popular in Italy until the end of the 18th century.
Catherine Of Braganza: Portuguese Roman Catholic wife of King Charles II of England (ruled 1660-85). A pawn in diplomatic dealings and anti-papal intrigues, she was married to Charles as part of an important alliance between England and Portugal.
Catherine of Genoa, Saint: Italian mystic admired for her work among the sick and the poor.
Catherine of Siena, Saint: Dominican tertiary, mystic, and patron saint of Italy who played a major role in returning the papacy from Avignon to Rome (1377). She was declared a doctor of the church in 1970.
Catherine of Sweden, Saint: daughter of St. Bridget of Sweden, whom she succeeded as superior of the Brigittines.
Catherine Of Valois: French princess, the wife of King Henry V of England, mother of King Henry VI, and grandmother of the first Tudor monarch of England, Henry VII.
Catherine Parr: sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII of England (ruled 1509-47).
Catherine the Great, Instruction of: (Aug. 10 [July 30, old style], 1767), in Russian history, document prepared by Empress Catherine II that recommended liberal, humanitarian political theories for use as the basis of government reform and the formulation of a new legal code. The Instruction ...
Catherine, Saint: Italian Dominican mystic. At the age of 13 she entered the Dominican convent at Prato, becoming prioress from 1560 to 1590. Famous for her visions of the Passion and her stigmatization, she was the author of letters (ed. by Fr. ...
cathode: negative terminal or electrode through which electrons enter a direct current load, such as an electrolytic cell or an electron tube, and the positive terminal of a battery or other source of electrical energy through which they return. This terminal ...
cathode ray: stream of electrons leaving the negative electrode (cathode) in a discharge tube containing a gas at low pressure, or electrons emitted by a heated filament in certain electron tubes. Cathode rays focused on a hard target (anticathode) produce X rays ...
cathode-ray oscilloscope: electronic-display device containing a cathode-ray tube (CRT) that generates an electron beam that is used to produce visible patterns, or graphs, on a phosphorescent screen. The graphs plot the relationships between two or more variables, with the horizontal axis normally ...
catholic: (from Greek katholikos, "universal"), the characteristic that, according to ecclesiastical writers since the 2nd century, distinguished the Christian Church at large from local communities or from heretical and schismatic sects. A notable exposition of the term as it had developed ...
Catholic Action: the organized work of the laity that is performed under the direction or mandate of a bishop in the fields of dogma, morals, liturgy, education, and charity. In 1927 Pope Pius XI gave the term its classical definition as "the ...
Catholic Emancipation: in British history, the freedom from discrimination and civil disabilities granted to the Roman Catholics of Britain and Ireland in a series of laws during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After the Reformation, Roman Catholics in Britain had ...
Catholic League: a military alliance (1609-35) of the Catholic powers of Germany led by Maximilian I, duke of Bavaria, and designed to stem the growth of Protestantism in Germany. In alliance with the Habsburg emperors, the League's forces, led by Johann Tserclaes, ...
Catholic Monarchs: Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, whose marriage (1469) led to the unification of Spain, of which they were the first monarchs. Although employed earlier, the appellation Catolicos was formally conferred on them in a bull published ...
Catholic University of America, The: private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Washington, D.C., U.S. The university is affiliated with the Roman Catholic church. It comprises 11 faculties or schools, including the Columbus School of Law, Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, and the National ...
catholicos: ("universal" bishop), in Eastern Christian Churches, title of certain ecclesiastical superiors. In earlier times the designation had occasionally been used, like archimandrite and exarch, for a superior abbot; but the title eventually came to denote a bishop who, while head ...
Catiline: in the late Roman Republic, an aristocrat who turned demagogue and made an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the republic while Cicero was a consul (63).
cation: atom or group of atoms that bears a positive electric charge. See ion.
Catlett, Elizabeth: expatriate American sculptor and printmaker renowned for her intensely political art.
Catlin, George: American artist and author, whose paintings of Native American scenes constitute an invaluable record of Native American culture in the 19th century.
catnip: (Nepeta cataria), aromatic herb of the mint family (Lamiaceae, or Labiatae). The plant has spikes of small, purple-dotted flowers. Catnip has been used as a seasoning and as a medicinal tea for colds and fever. Because its mintlike flavour and ...
Cato, Marcus Porcius: great-grandson of Cato the Censor and a leader of the Optimates (conservative senatorial aristocracy) who tried to preserve the Roman Republic against power seekers, in particular Julius Caesar.
Cato, Marcus Porcius: Roman statesman, orator, and the first Latin prose writer of importance. He was noted for his conservative and anti-Hellenic policies, in opposition to the phil-Hellenic ideals of the Scipio family.
Cato, Publius Valerius: Roman poet and grammarian, the leader of the "new" school of poetry (poetae novi, as Cicero called them). Its followers rejected the national epic and drama in favour of the short mythological epics (epyllia), elegies, and lyrics of the Alexandrian ...
Catoche, Cape: cape on the Caribbean Sea, on a bar off the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, in the northeastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula (q.v.). Cape Catoche is said to have been the first Mexican land visited by Spaniards, in 1517. ...
Caton-Thompson, Gertrude: English archaeologist who distinguished two prehistoric cultures in the Al-Fayyum depression of Upper Egypt, the older dating to about 5000 BC and the younger to about 4500 BC.
Catonsville: village, Baltimore county, north-central Maryland, U.S., a southwestern suburb of Baltimore. It was founded before 1729 and was known as Johnnycake for a local inn specializing in that type of cornbread. The present name, honouring Richard Caton (who had an ...