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Encyclopedias since 1768

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Epicureanism ... epode

Epicureanism: in a strict sense, the philosophy taught by Epicurus (341-270 BC). In a broad sense, it is a system of ethics embracing every conception or form of life that can be traced to the principles of his philosophy. In ancient ...
Epicurus: Greek philosopher, author of an ethical philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and retirement. He founded schools of philosophy that survived directly from the 4th century BC until the 4th century AD.
Epidaurus: in ancient Greece, important commercial centre on the eastern coast of the Argolid in the northeastern Peloponnese; it is famed for its 4th-century-BC temple of Asclepius, the god of healing. Excavations of the sacred precinct reveal that it contained temples ...
epideictic oratory: according to Aristotle, a type of suasive speech designed primarily for rhetorical effect. Epideictic oratory was panegyrical, declamatory, and demonstrative. Its aim was to condemn or to eulogize an individual, cause, occasion, movement, city, or state. An outstanding example of ...
epidemic: an occurrence of disease that is temporarily of high prevalence. An epidemic occurring over a wide geographical area is called a pandemic. The rise and decline in epidemic prevalence of an infectious disease is a probability phenomenon dependent upon transfer ...
epidemiology: branch of medical science that studies the distribution of disease in human populations and the factors determining that distribution, chiefly by the use of statistics. Unlike other medical disciplines, epidemiology concerns itself with groups of people rather than individual patients ...
Epidendrum: genus of tropical orchids, family Orchidaceae, with about 1,000 species that are distributed from southeastern North America to central South America. Epidendrum species are primarily epiphytic (supported by other plants and having aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere), but ...
epidermal tooth: any of several hard, horny projections analogous to but not homologous with true teeth (see tooth). Epidermal teeth are found in the jawless fish (e.g., lampreys), on the edges of the jaws of tadpoles (larval frogs and toads), in the ...
epidermis: in botany, outermost, protoderm-derived layer of cells covering the stem, root, leaf, flower, fruit, and seed parts of a plant. The epidermis and its waxy cuticle provide a protective barrier against mechanical injury, water loss, and infection. Various modified epidermal ...
epidermis: in zoology, protective outermost portion of the skin. There are two layers of epidermis, the living basal layer, which is next to the dermis, and the external stratum corneum, or horny layer, which is composed of dead, keratin-filled cells that ...
epididyme: either of a pair of elongated crescent-shaped structures attached to each of the two male reproductive organs, the testes (see testis). Sperm cells produced in the testes are transported to the epididymes, where they mature and are stored. Each epididymis ...
epididymitis: inflammation of the epididymis, the cordlike structure that runs along the posterior of the testis (testicle) and contains spermatozoa. In young men, epididymitis is most often caused by sexually transmitted agents such as Chlamydia and gonococcus, while in older men ...
epidote: any of a group of colorless to green or yellow-green silicate minerals with the general chemical formula A₂B₃(SiO₄)(Si₂O₇)O(OH), in which A is usually calcium (Ca), though manganese (Mn) or cerium (Ce) is sometimes substituted; and B is generally aluminum (Al), ...
epidote-amphibolite facies: one of the major divisions of the mineral-facies classification of metamorphic rocks, the rocks of which form under moderate temperature and pressure conditions (250°-400° C [500°-750° F] and up to 1 or 2 kilobars [1 kilobar equals about 15,000 pounds ...
epigram: originally an inscription suitable for carving on a monument, but since the time of the Greek Anthology (q.v.) applied to any brief and pithy verse, particularly if astringent and purporting to point a moral. By extension the term is also ...
epigraphy: the study of written matter recorded on hard or durable material. The term is derived from the classical Greek epigraphein ("to write upon, incise") and epigraphe ("inscription").
epilepsy: chronic neurological disorder characterized by sudden and recurrent seizures which are caused by excessive signaling of nerve cells in the brain. Seizures may include convulsions, momentary lapses of consciousness, strange movements or sensations in parts of the body, odd behaviours, ...
Epilobium: genus of about 200 plants, in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae), native to most temperate regions. It includes fireweed (q.v.; species E. angustifolium), which rapidly covers newly burned areas. The young parts of some species can be cooked and eaten ...
Epimenides: Cretan seer, reputed author of religious and poetical writings. He conducted purificatory rites at Athens about 500 BC according to Plato (about 600 according to Aristotle). All surviving fragments, including a line quoted by St. Paul (Titus 1:12), are attributable ...
Epinal: town, capital of the Vosges departement, Lorraine region, eastern France, on the Moselle River, south-southeast of Nancy. The town, located on two arms of the Moselle, is divided into four parts. The town proper, known as the grande ville ("large ...
Epinay, Louise-Florence-Petronille Tardieu d'Esclavelles, dame de La Live d': a distinguished figure in advanced literary circles in 18th-century France. Though she wrote a good deal herself, she is more famous for her friendships with three of the outstanding French writers and thinkers of her day, Denis Diderot, Baron Friedrich ...
Epinay-sur-Seine: town, northern suburb of Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis departement, Paris region, north-central France, on the Seine River. Epinay originated from a Gallic-Roman settlement called Spinogelum (Place of Thorns and Gorse), and in the Middle Ages it was the site of La Brache, ...
epinephrine and norepinephrine: two separate but related hormones secreted by the medulla of the adrenal glands. They are also produced at the ends of sympathetic nerve fibres, where they serve as chemical mediators for conveying the nerve impulses to effector organs. Chemically, the ...
epinicion: choral lyric ode honouring a victor in the great Hellenic games, performed as part of the celebration on his triumphal return to his city. The epinicion had a basis in improvised celebration, but the form as it has survived is ...
Epiphanius of Constantia, Saint: bishop noted in the history of the early Christian church for his struggle against beliefs he considered heretical. His chief target was the teachings of Origen, a major theologian in the Eastern church whom he considered more a Greek philosopher ...
Epiphany: (from Greek epiphaneia, "manifestation"), festival celebrated on January 6; it is one of the three principal and oldest festival days of the Christian Church (including Easter and Christmas). It commemorates the first manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, represented ...
epiphyte: any plant that grows upon or is in some manner attached to another plant or object merely for physical support. Epiphytes are primarily tropical in distribution and are often known as air plants because they have no attachment to the ...
Epipolae: ancient fortified plateau west of Syracuse, Sicily, which was enclosed with walls some 12 miles (19 km) long by the tyrant Dionysius I the Elder (c. 430-367 BC). The southern wall, of which considerable remains exist, was probably often restored. ...
epirrhema: in ancient Greek Old Comedy, an address usually about public affairs. It was spoken by the leader of one-half of the chorus after that half of the chorus had sung an ode. It was part of the parabasis, or performance ...
Epirus: coastal region of northwestern Greece and southern Albania. It extends from Valona Bay (Gji i Vlores) in Albania (northwest) to the Gulf of Arta (southeast); its hinterland extends eastward to the watershed of the Pindus Mountains. The nomoi (departments) of ...
Epirus, despotate of: (1204-1337), Byzantine principality in the Balkans that was a centre of resistance for Byzantine Greeks during the western European occupation of Constantinople (1204-61).
episcopacy: in some Christian churches, the office of a bishop and the system of church government based on the three orders, or offices, of the ministry: bishops, priests, and deacons. The origins of episcopacy are obscure, but by the 2nd century ...
Episcopal Church in Scotland: independent church within the Anglican Communion that developed in Scotland out of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation.
Episcopal Church, USA: autonomous church in the United States. Part of the Anglican Communion, it was formally organized in Philadelphia in 1789 as the successor to the Church of England in the American colonies. In points of doctrine, worship, and ministerial order, the ...
Episcopius, Simon: Dutch theologian and systematizer of Arminianism, a liberal reaction to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination.
episcopus vagans: in Christianity, a bishop without authority or without recognition in any major Christian church. Such bishops may have been properly consecrated but were not assigned to a diocese or were deprived of their diocese for some reason or were excommunicated ...
episome: in bacteria, one of a group of extrachromosomal genetic elements called plasmids, consisting of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and capable of conferring a selective advantage upon the bacteria in which they occur. Episomes may be attached to the bacterial cell membrane ...
epistatic gene: in genetics, a gene that determines whether or not a trait will be expressed. The system of genes that determines skin colour in man, for example, is independent of the gene responsible for albinism (lack of pigment) or the development ...
epistemology: the study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge. The term is derived from the Greek episteme ("knowledge") and logos ("reason"), and accordingly the field is sometimes referred to as the theory ...
epistilbite: hydrated sodium and calcium aluminosilicate mineral in the zeolite family. It forms piezoelectric crystals of monoclinic symmetry and platy habit; the latter property has caused epistilbite to be assigned to a group typified by heulandite (q.v.). More recently, X-ray diffraction ...
epistle: a composition in prose or poetry written in the form of a letter to a particular person or group.
epistolary novel: a novel told through the medium of letters written by one or more of the characters. Originating with Samuel Richardson's Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), the story of a servant girl's victorious struggle against her master's attempts to seduce her, ...
epitaph: an inscription in verse or prose upon a tomb; and, by extension, anything written as if to be inscribed on a tomb. Probably the earliest surviving are those of the ancient Egyptians, written on the sarcophagi and coffins. Ancient Greek ...
epitaxy: the process of growing a crystal of a particular orientation on top of another crystal, where the orientation is determined by the underlying crystal. The creation of various layers in semiconductor wafers, such as those used in integrated circuits, is ...
epithalamium: song or poem to the bride and bridegroom at their wedding. In ancient Greece, the singing of such songs was a traditional way of invoking good fortune on the marriage and often of indulging in ribaldry. By derivation, the epithalamium ...
epithelioma: an abnormal growth, or tumour, of the epithelium, the layer of tissue (such as the skin or mucous membrane) that covers the surfaces of organs and other structures of the body. Epitheliomas can be benign or malignant (that is, cancerous), ...
epithelium: in anatomy, layer of cells closely bound to one another to form continuous sheets covering surfaces that may come into contact with foreign substances. Epithelium occurs in both plants and animals.
epithet: an adjective or phrase that is used to express the characteristic of a person or thing, such as Ivan the Terrible. In literature, the term is considered an element of poetic diction, or something that distinguishes the language of poetry ...
epoch: unit of geological time during which a rock series is deposited. It is a subdivision of a geological period and the word is capitalized when employed in a formal sense (e.g., Pleistocene Epoch). Additional distinctions can be made by appending ...
epoche: in Greek philosophy,"suspension of judgment," a principle originally espoused by nondogmatic philosophical Skeptics of the ancient Greek Academy who, viewing the problem of knowledge as insoluble, proposed that, when controversy arises, an attitude of noninvolvement should be adopted in order ...
epode: a verse form composed of two lines differing in construction and often in metre, the second shorter than the first. In Greek lyric odes, an epode is the third part of the three-part structure of the poem, following the strophe ...