Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Dichondra ... Didymus Chalcenterus

Dichondra: any of several species of low, creeping plants of the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae) that are used in warm climates as grass substitutes. The plants are from 2 12 to 8 cm (1 to 3 inches) high and spread by ...
dichotomy: (from Greek dicha, "apart," and tomos, "cutting"), a form of logical division consisting of the separation of a class into two subclasses, one of which has and the other has not a certain quality or attribute. Men thus may be ...
Dick, George Frederick: American physician and pathologist who, with his wife, Gladys Henry Dick, discovered the cause of, and devised means of preventing, scarlet fever.
Dick, Philip K.: American science-fiction writer whose novels and short stories often depict the psychological struggles of characters trapped in illusory environments.
dickcissel: American bird usually placed in the subfamily Cardinalinae of the family Fringillidae (the Emberizidae of some authors). The male dickcissel-named for its song-is a streaky brown bird 16 cm (6.5 inches) long, with a black bib on its yellow breast, ...
Dicke, Robert H.: American physicist noted for his theoretical work in cosmology and investigations centring on the general theory of relativity. He also made a number of significant contributions to radar technology and to the field of atomic physics.
Dickens, Charles: English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian era. His many volumes include such works as A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two ...
Dickey, Bill: professional baseball player who caught for the New York Yankees (1928-43 and 1946) of the American League. Dickey spanned two eras in Yankee history, playing at the end of Babe Ruth's career and during the careers of legends Lou Gehrig ...
Dickey, James: American poet, novelist, and critic best known for his poetry combining themes of nature mysticism, religion, and history and for his novel Deliverance (1970).
Dickey, Sarah Ann: American educator who devoted her efforts in the post-Civil War United States to creating and enhancing educational opportunities for African-American students.
Dickinson: city, seat (1883) of Stark county, southwestern North Dakota, U.S. It lies on the Heart River, about 100 miles (160 km) west of Bismarck. Founded in 1880 as a stop on the Northern Pacific Railway and originally called Pleasant Valley ...
Dickinson College: private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is a liberal arts college offering undergraduate degrees in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences and in preprofessional fields. Students may spend the summer abroad in one of ...
Dickinson, Anna Elizabeth: American lecturer on abolitionism, women's rights, and other reform topics, remembered for the articulate but emotionally blistering rhetoric that characterized her speaking style.
Dickinson, Emily: American lyric poet who has been called "the New England mystic" and who experimented with poetic rhythms and rhymes. Almost all her poetry was published posthumously.
Dickinson, John: American statesman often referred to as the "penman of the Revolution."
Dickinson, Jonathan: prominent Presbyterian clergyman of the American colonial period and the first president of Princeton University.
dickite: clay mineral, a form of kaolinite (q.v.).
Dickson, John Robinson: Irish-born medical doctor and educator who was instrumental in establishing organized medical training in Canada.
Dickson, Leonard Eugene: American mathematician who made important contributions to the theory of numbers and the theory of groups.
dicotyledon: any plant of the class Magnoliopsida (magnoliatae, Dicotyledones), the larger of the two great groups (the smaller is the Liliopsida, or Monocotyledones) of flowering plants, or angiosperms. There are about 175,000 known species of dicots. Most common garden plants, shrubs ...
dictating machine: device for recording, storage (usually brief), and subsequent reproduction (usually by typewriter or word-processing system) of spoken messages. Dictating machines may be either mechanical or magnetic and may record the voice on wire, coated tape, or plastic disks or belts, ...
dictator: in the Roman Republic, a temporary magistrate with extraordinary powers, nominated by a consul on the recommendation of the Senate and confirmed by the Comitia Curiata (a popular assembly). The dictatorship was a permanent office among some of the Latin ...
dictatorship: form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations. The term dictatorship comes from the Latin title dictator (q.v.), which in the Roman Republic designated a temporary magistrate who was granted ...
dictatorship of the proletariat: in Marxism, rule by the proletariat-the economic and social class consisting of industrial workers who derive income solely from their labour-during the transitional phase between the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of communism. During this transition, the proletariat is ...
diction: choice of words, especially with regard to correctness, clearness, or effectiveness. Any of the four generally accepted levels of diction-formal, informal, colloquial, or slang-may be correct in a particular context but incorrect in another or when mixed unintentionally. Most ideas ...
dictionary: reference book that lists words in order and gives their meanings. In dictionaries of Western languages, the words are given in alphabetical order. In addition to its basic function of defining words, a dictionary may provide information about their pronunciation, ...
Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles, A: four-volume dictionary designed to define usage of words and phrases in American English as it differed from usage in England and other English-speaking countries, as well as to show how the cultural and natural history of the United States is ...
Dictionary of Americanisms, A: two-volume dictionary of words and expressions that originated in the United States or that were first borrowed into the English language in the United States. Edited by the American scholar Mitford M. Mathews and published in 1951, the dictionary was ...
Dictionary of the English Language, A: the famous dictionary of Samuel Johnson, published in London in 1755; its principles dominated English lexicography for more than a century. This two-volume work surpassed earlier dictionaries not in bulk but in precision of definition.
Dictionary of the Irish Language: authoritative dictionary of the Irish language that continues, starting with the letter D, the work of Kuno Meyer's Contributions to Irish Lexicography (1906-07), which covered A-C.
Dictionnaire alphabetique et analogique de la langue francaise: (French: "Alphabetical and Analogical Dictionary of the French Language"), scholarly historical dictionary of the French language, which supplies for each entry etymology, definition, antonyms, synonyms, and cross-references.
Dictionnaire de la langue francaise: monumental French dictionary compiled by Maximilien-Paul-Emile Littre, a French lexicographer.
Dictys Cretensis: author of a pseudo-chronicle of the Trojan War. Dictys was supposed to have accompanied the Cretan leader Idomeneus from Knossos to the siege of Troy and to have written a pro-Greek account of the Trojan War. His manuscript was said ...
Dicuil: monk, grammarian, and geographer whose work is important to the history of science and is a testament to Irish learning in the 9th century.
dicyemid: any of a class (Dicyemida) of multicellular wormlike parasites of various marine invertebrates. See mesozoan.
Dicynodon: extinct genus of therapsid reptiles, which once were dominant mammallike land vertebrates, found in Upper Permian deposits (i.e., those roughly 245 to 258 million years old) in southern Africa, Europe, and southern Asia. The skull of Dicynodon was very long ...
Didache: the oldest surviving Christian church order, probably written in Egypt or Syria in the 2nd century. In 16 short chapters it deals with morals and ethics, church practice, and the eschatological hope (of the Second Coming of Christ at the ...
didactic: of literature or other art, intended to convey instruction and information. The word is often used to refer to texts that are overburdened with instructive or factual matter to the exclusion of graceful and pleasing detail so that they are ...
didascaly: the instruction or training of the chorus in ancient Greek drama. The word is from the Greek didaskalia, "teaching or instruction." The Greek plural noun didaskaliai ("instructions") came to refer to records of dramatic performances, containing names of authors and ...
Diddley, Bo: American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who was one of the most influential performers of rock music's early period.
Didelot, Charles: Swedish-born French dancer, choreographer, and teacher whose innovative work anticipated the Romantic ballet.
Diderot, Denis: French man of letters and philosopher who, from 1745 to 1772, served as chief editor of the Encyclopedie, one of the principal works of the Age of Enlightenment.
Didion, Joan: American novelist and essayist known for her lucid prose style and incisive depictions of social unrest and psychological fragmentation.
Didius Julianus, Marcus: wealthy Roman senator who became emperor (March 28-June 1, 193) by being the highest bidder in an auction for the support of the Praetorian Guard.
didjeridu: wind instrument in the form of a straight wooden trumpet. The instrument is made from eucalyptus wood and is about 5 feet (1.5 metres) long. Decorated ceremonial varieties, however, may be two or three times longer.
Dido: in Greek legend, the reputed founder of Carthage, daughter of the Tyrian king Mutto (or Belus), and wife of Sychaeus (or Acerbas).
Didot Family: family of French printers, publishers, and typefounders who had a profound influence on the history of typography in France.
Didyma: ancient sanctuary and seat of an oracle of Apollo, located south of Miletus in modern Turkey. Before being plundered and burned by the Persians (c. 494 BC), the sanctuary was in the charge of the Branchids, a priestly caste named ...
Didymelales: order of dicotyledonous flowering plants comprising the family Didymelaceae, with one genus (Didymeles) and two species, both of which are trees of Madagascar with very simple, primitive flowers. The plants are so distinctive that close relatives are nonexistent, as is ...
Didymograptus: genus of graptolites (an extinct group of colonial animals related to primitive chordates) found as fossils in Early and Middle Ordovician marine rocks (the Ordovician Period occurred from 505 to 478 million years ago). The several described species of Didymograptus, ...
Didymus Chalcenterus: Greek scholar and grammarian, one of the chief links between ancient and modern classical scholarship. His industry, as the reputed author of 3,500 books, earned him the nickname of Chalcenterus ("Brass Guts"). His output included work on the text of ...