Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Firbank, Ronald ... Fischart, Johann

Firbank, Ronald: English novelist who was a literary innovator of some importance. Greatly indebted to the literature of the 1890s, his is a peculiarly fantastic and perverse, idiosyncratic humour. His wit largely depends upon the shape and cadence of the sentence and ...
fire: in gems, rapidly changing flashes of colour seen in some gems, such as diamonds. Some minerals show dispersion; that is, they break incident white light into its component colours. The greater the separation between rays of red light (at one ...
fire: rapid burning of combustible material with the evolution of heat and usually accompanied by flame. It is one of the human race's essential tools, control of which helped start it on the path toward civilization.
fire alarm: means of warning in case of fire. Originally, watchmen provided the only fire-alarm system, but, with the advent of electric power, boxes wired to fire departments provided a warning system from city streets and such institutional buildings as schools. While ...
fire ant: (Solenopsis), any of a genus of insects in the family Formicidae, order Hymenoptera, several species of which are common in North America. The red or yellowish ants are one to five millimetres in length and can inflict a severe sting. ...
fire blight: plant disease caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, which has destroyed pear and apple orchards in much of North America, parts of Europe, New Zealand, and Japan. Other plants affected include almond, Amelanchier, apricot, aronia, cherry, Cotoneaster, crab apple, hawthorn, ...
fire engine: mobile (nowadays self-propelled) piece of equipment used in fire fighting. Early fire engines were hand pumps equipped with reservoirs and were moved to the scene of a fire by human or animal power. In large fires, the reservoir was kept ...
fire escape: means of rapid egress from a building, primarily intended for use in case of fire. Several types have been used: a knotted rope or rope ladder secured to an inside wall; an open iron stairway on the building's exterior, an ...
fire extinguisher: portable or movable apparatus used to put out a small fire by directing onto it a substance that cools the burning material, deprives the flame of oxygen, or interferes with the chemical reactions occurring in the flame. Water performs two ...
fire fighting: activity directed at limiting the spread of fire and extinguishing it, particularly as performed by members of organizations (fire services or fire departments) trained for the purpose. When it is possible, fire fighters rescue persons endangered by the fire, if ...
fire finch: any of several red-and-brown or red-and-black birds of Africa that usually have fine white dots on their undersides. Fire finches belong to the family Estrildidae (order Passeriformes). Perhaps the commonest and tamest bird in Africa is the 8-centimetre (3-inch) red-billed, ...
fire insurance: provision against losses caused by fire, lightning, and the removal of property from premises endangered by fire. The insurer agrees, for a fee, to reimburse the insured in the event of such an occurrence. The standard policy limits coverage to ...
Fire Island: elongated sandspit, 32 miles (51 km) long and 0.5 mile (1 km) across (at its widest point), Suffolk county, New York, U.S. It lies off the southern shore of Long Island and shelters Great South Bay and part of Moriches ...
fire prevention and control: the prevention, detection, and extinguishment of fires, including such secondary activities as research into the causes of fire, education of the public about fire hazards, and the maintenance and improvement of fire-fighting equipment.
fire storm: violent convection caused by a continuous area of intense fire and characterized by destructively violent surface indrafts. Sometimes it is accompanied by tornado-like whirls that develop as hot air from the burning fuel rises. Such a fire is beyond human ...
fire walking: religious ceremony practiced in many parts of the world, including the Indian subcontinent, Malaya, Japan, China, Fiji Islands, Tahiti, Society Islands, New Zealand, Mauritius, Bulgaria, and Spain. It was also practiced in classical Greece and in ancient India and China.
Fire!!: American magazine that exerted a marked impact on the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and early '30s despite its demise after the first issue (November 1926).
fire-bellied toad: (Bombina), small amphibian (family Discoglossidae) characterized by bright orange markings on the undersides of its grayish body and limbs. The common fire-bellied toad (B. bombina) is a pond dweller about 5 centimetres (2 inches) long. When disturbed it raises its ...
fireboat: vessel used in fire fighting in port cities. Basically a large tugboat, the fireboat is equipped with powerful pumps capable of producing streams of up to 12,000 gallons (45,000 litres) per minute. The first fireboats, built in the 19th century, ...
firebrick: refractory material consisting of nonmetallic minerals formed in a variety of shapes for use at high temperatures, particularly in structures for metallurgical operations and glass manufacturing. Principal raw materials for firebrick include fireclays, mainly hydrated aluminum silicates; minerals of high ...
firecrest: European species of kinglet (q.v.).
firefly: any of the nocturnal luminous insects of the beetle family Lampyridae (order Coleoptera), consisting of about 1,900 species that inhabit tropical and temperate regions. The common glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca) is a member of this family (see glowworm).
fireplace: housing for an open fire inside a dwelling, used for heating and often for cooking. The first fireplaces developed when medieval houses and castles were equipped with chimneys to carry away smoke; experience soon showed that the rectangular form was ...
Firestone, Harvey S: American industrialist noted for his establishment of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, which was for some 80 years a major U.S. tire manufacturer.
firethorn: (Pyracantha), any of a genus of usually thorny evergreen shrubs, in the rose family (Rosaceae), native to southeastern Europe and Asia. Firethorns are planted as ornamentals for their showy, berrylike fruits; they are also used as hedges and are often ...
fireweed: perennial wildflower, in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae), abundant on newly clear and burned areas. Its spikes of whitish to magenta flowers, which grow up to 1.5 m (5 feet) high, can be a spectacular sight on prairies of the ...
firework: explosive or combustible used for display. Of ancient Chinese origin, fireworks evidently developed out of military rockets and explosive missiles, and they were (and still are) used in elaborate combinations for celebrations. During the European Middle Ages, fireworks accompanied the ...
fireworm: any of certain segmented marine worms of the class Polychaeta (phylum Annelida), including species of the genera Hermodice and Eurythoe. Fireworms produce a stinging sensation if touched. The body of H. carunculata, found in the coral reefs of the Caribbean ...
Firishtah: one of Muslim India's most famous writers.
Firminy: town, Loire departement, Rhone-Alpes region, southeast-central France. It lies on the Ondaine River immediately southwest of Saint-Etienne. The name, originally Firminiaco signifying "place of Firmin," was first recorded (971) in a charter given by the king of Burgundy. It is ...
firn: partially compacted granular snow that is the intermediate stage between snow and glacial ice. Firn is found under the snow that accumulates at the head of a glacier. It is formed under the pressure of overlying snow by the processes ...
Firoz Shah, Battle of: (Dec. 21-22, 1845), conflict between the Sikhs and the British at Firoz Shah, in the Punjab, northern India. It was the first of two decisive battles in the First Sikh War, 1845-46. A British force of about 18,000 men under ...
Firozpur: city, southwestern Punjab state, northwestern India, 5 miles (8 km) from the Pakistani border. Firozpur was founded by Firuz Shah Tughluq in the 14th century; it fell under British rule in 1835. It became a British outpost and was involved ...
Firozpur Jhirka: city, southeastern Haryana state, northwestern India. The city is said to have been founded by Firuz Shah III as a military outpost and was constituted a municipality in 1867. Connected by road with Alwar, in Rajasthan state, and with Gurgaon ...
Firpo, Luis: Argentine professional boxer.
First Bank System, Inc.: American bank holding company. Its major subsidiary is the First National Bank of Minneapolis. Headquarters for both are in Minneapolis, Minn.
first cause: in philosophy, the self-created being (i.e., God) to which every chain of causes must ultimately go back. The term was used by Greek thinkers and became an underlying assumption in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Many philosophers and theologians in this tradition ...
First Church of Christ, Scientist: in Boston, The Mother Church of Christian Science, first established by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879, reestablished as an international organization by Eddy in 1892. The church building was constructed in 1895; a domed extension was added later (1903-06).
First Folio: first published edition (1623) of the collected works of William Shakespeare, originally published as Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies. It is the major source for contemporary texts of his plays.
first lady: wife of the president of the United States.
First National Bank of Boston: major American commercial bank with branch and representative offices in the United States and abroad. It is the principal subsidiary of the Bank of Boston Corporation (q.v.).
First National Bank of Chicago: major American commercial bank formed in 1863, leading subsidiary of First Chicago NBD Corporation, a holding company.
First National Bank of Minneapolis: major U.S. commercial bank founded in 1864, now the main subsidiary of First Bank System, Inc. (q.v.), a bank holding company.
First of June, Battle of the: (June 1, 1794), the first great naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought between the French and the British in the Atlantic Ocean about 430 miles (690 km) west of the Breton island of Ouessant (Ushant). The battle arose ...
Firth, John R: British linguist specializing in contextual theories of meaning and prosodic analysis. He was the originator of the "London school of linguistics."
Firth, Sir Charles: English historian noted for his work on 17th-century English history.
Firth, Sir Raymond: New Zealander social anthropologist best known for his research on the Maori and other peoples of Oceania and Southeast Asia.
Firuzabad: town situated about 55 miles (88 km) south of Shiraz, in the Fars region of south-central Iran. The town is said to have been founded by the Sasanian king Ardashir I (AD 224-241) in commemoration of his victory over the ...
Firuzabadi, al-: in full Abu 'l-tahir Muhammad Ben Ya'kub Ben Muhammad Ben Ibrahim Majd Al-din Al-shafi'i Al-shirazi Al-firuzabadi lexicographer who compiled an extensive dictionary of Arabic that, in its digest form, Al-Qamus ("The Ocean"), served as the basis of later European dictionaries ...
fiscal policy: measures employed by governments to stabilize the economy, specifically by manipulating the levels and allocations of taxes and government expenditures. Fiscal measures are frequently used in tandem with monetary policy (q.v.) to achieve certain goals.
Fischart, Johann: German satirist, the principal German literary opponent of the Counter-Reformation.