Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Fayrfax, Robert ... fee

Fayrfax, Robert: foremost among the early English Tudor composers, noted principally for his masses and motets written in a style less florid than that of his predecessors. He is distinguished from his English contemporaries by his more frequent use of imitative counterpoint ...
Faysal: king of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975, an influential figure of the Arab world who was a critic not only of Israel but of Soviet influence in the Middle East.
Faysal I: Arab statesman and king of Iraq (1921-33) who was a leader in advancing Arab nationalism during and after World War I.
Faysal II: the last king of Iraq, who reigned from 1939 to 1958.
Fayum portrait: any of the funerary portraits dating from the Roman period (1st to the 4th century) found in Egyptian tombs throughout Egypt but particularly at the oasis of al-Fayyum. Depictions of the head and bust of the deceased, the portraits are ...
Fayyum, al-: muhafazah (governorate) of Upper Egypt, in a great depression of the Western Desert southwest of Cairo. Extending about 50 miles (80 km) east-west and about 35 miles (56 km) north-south, the whole Fayyum, including ar-Ruwayan Wadi, a smaller, arid depression, ...
Fayyum, al-: capital of al-Fayyum muhafazah (governorate), Egypt. The town is located in the southeastern part of the governorate, on the site of the ancient centre of the region, called Shedet in pharaonic times and Crocodilopolis, later Arsinoe, in the Ptolemaic and ...
Fazang: Buddhist monk usually considered to be the founder of the Huayan school of Buddhism in China because he systematized its doctrines. Basically, the Huayan school taught that all phenomena are interrelated. Hence every living being possesses the Buddha-nature within.
fazenda: large plantation in Brazil, comparable to the slave-based plantations of the Caribbean and the United States. In the colonial period (16th-18th century) the plantation owners (fazendeiros) ruled their estates, and the black slaves and freemen who worked ...
Fderik: mining village, north-central Mauritania, western Africa, just west of Zouirat. It is important as the base for the exploitation of extensive iron-ore deposits in the nearby Mount Ijill. The iron ore is exported through the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou, via ...
Fearing, Kenneth: American poet and novelist who used an array of topical phrases and idiom in his satires of urban life.
feast: day or period of time set aside to commemorate, ritually celebrate or reenact, or anticipate events or seasons-agricultural, religious, or sociocultural-that give meaning and cohesiveness to an individual and to the religious, political, or socioeconomic community. Because such days or ...
feather: the component structure of the outer covering and flight surfaces of all modern birds. Unique to birds, feathers apparently evolved from the scales of birds' reptilian ancestors. The many different types of feathers are variously specialized for insulation, flight, formation ...
feather moss: (Ptilium, formerly Hypnum, crista-castrensis), widely distributed plant of the order Bryales that forms dense, light-green mats on rocks, rotten wood, or peaty soil, especially in mountain forests of the Northern Hemisphere. The erect stem of a feather moss has a ...
feather star: any of the 550 living species of crinoid marine invertebrates of the phylum Echinodermata lacking a stalk. The arms, which have feathery fringes, usually number five. Feather stars usually attach themselves to a surface or to some floating object and ...
Feather, Victor, Baron Feather of the City of Bradford: British trade unionist who led the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in its confrontations with governments over industrial-relations legislation from 1969 to 1973.
feather-duster worm: any large, segmented marine worm of the family Sabellidae (class Polychaeta, phylum Annelida). The name is also occasionally applied to members of the closely related family Serpulidae. Sabellids live in long tubes constructed of mud or sand cemented by mucus, ...
feather-winged beetle: any of the approximately 350 insect species of the widely distributed family Ptiliidae (Trichopterygidae) of the order Coleoptera, characterized by long fringes of hair on the long, narrow hindwings. Most feather-winged beetles are between 0.25 and 1 millimetre (0.01 to ...
featherbedding: labour union practices that require the employer to pay for the performance of what he considers to be unnecessary work or for work that is not in fact performed or to employ workers who are not needed. The existence of ...
Feathered Serpent: major deity of the ancient Mexican pantheon. See Quetzalcoatl.
feathertail: small marsupial mammal, a species of glider (q.v.).
featherwork: decorative use of ornamental feathers, especially the feather mosaic needlework of Victorian England. Feathers have been used for adornment since prehistoric times. The Anasazi Indians constructed a turkey-feather and yucca-cord fabric before their introduction to the loom. Highly advanced featherwork ...
February: second month of the Gregorian calendar. It was named after Februalia, the Roman festival of purification. Originally, February was the last month of the Roman calendar. See month and the accompanying Table.
February Revolution: (March 8-12 [Feb. 24-28, old style], 1917), the first stage of the Russian Revolution of 1917, in which the monarchy was overthrown and replaced by the Provisional Government. This government, intended as an interim stage in the creation of a ...
Febvre, Lucien Paul Victor: French historian of the early modern period and organizer of major national and international intellectual projects. In his books and editorial efforts, Febvre embraced a "global" history that rejected all forms of pedantry and determinism.
Fecamp: seaside resort and fishing port of northern France, Seine-Maritime departement, Haute-Normandie region, northeast of Le Havre. It lies at the opening of the valley of the Valmont River, between high cliffs. In the 11th century Fecamp became famous for its ...
feces: solid bodily waste discharged from the large intestine through the anus during defecation. Feces are normally removed from the body one or two times a day. About 100 to 250 grams (3 to 8 ounces) of feces are excreted by ...
Fechner, Gustav Theodor: German physicist and philosopher who was a key figure in the founding of psychophysics, the science concerned with quantitative relations between sensations and the stimuli producing them.
Feckenham, John de: English priest and the last abbot of Westminster.
fedayee: a term used in Islamic cultures to describe a devotee of a religious or national group willing to engage in self-immolation to attain a group goal. The term first appeared in the 11th-13th centuries in reference to the members of ...
Fedchenko Glacier: extensive valley glacier, situated in the Central Asian Pamirs range, central Tajikistan. The world's largest glacier found outside the polar regions, it is about 45 miles (70 km) long and covers up to some 350 square miles (900 square km). ...
Fedeli, Compagnia dei: one of several Italian companies performing commedia dell'arte (improvised popular comedy) at the beginning of the 17th century. The name means "company of the faithful." The Fedeli was a successor to the pioneering Gelosi company and incorporated some of the ...
Feder, Gottfried: German political activist who was the principal economic theoretician of the initial phase of German Nazism.
Federal Bureau of Investigation: principal investigative agency of the federal government of the United States. The bureau is responsible for conducting investigations in cases where federal laws may have been violated, unless another agency of the federal government has been specifically delegated that duty ...
Federal Constitutional Court: in Germany, special court for the review of judicial and administrative decisions and legislation to determine whether they are in accord with the Basic Law (constitution) of the country. Although all German courts are empowered to review the constitutionality of ...
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: independent U.S. government corporation created under authority of the Banking Act of 1933 (also known as the Glass-Steagall Act), with the responsibility to insure bank deposits in eligible banks against loss in the event of a bank failure and to ...
Federal District: district in central Mexico, the seat of the national government, in a territory that includes a large portion of the Mexico City metropolitan area. The district averages well over 8,000 feet (2,400 metres) in elevation and occupies the southeastern corner ...
Federal Reserve System: central banking authority of the United States. It acts as a fiscal agent for the U.S. government, is custodian of the reserve accounts of commercial banks, makes loans to commercial banks, and oversees the supply of currency, including coin, in ...
Federal Security Service: Russian internal security and counterintelligence service created in 1994 as one of the successor agencies of the Soviet-era KGB. It is responsible for counterintelligence, antiterrorism, and surveillance of the military. The FSB occupies the former headquarters of the KGB on ...
Federal style: American revival of Roman architecture, especially associated with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Latrobe. It flourished from 1785 to 1820 and later in governmental building. The Federal style had definite philosophical ties to the concept of Rome as the republic that ...
federalism: mode of political organization that unites separate states or other polities within an overarching political system in such a way as to allow each to maintain its own fundamental political integrity. Federal systems do this by requiring that basic policies ...
Federalist papers: series of 85 essays on the proposed new Constitution of the United States and on the nature of republican government, published between 1787 and 1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in an effort to persuade New York ...
Federalist Party: early U.S. national political party, which advocated a strong central government and held power from 1789 to 1801. The term federalist was first used in 1787 to describe the supporters of the newly written Constitution, who emphasized the federal character ...
Federate: partisan of the Commune of Paris of 1871 (see Paris, Commune of). Many Communards called themselves Federates because they believed in a federal system for France.
Federation Cup: trophy representing the women's amateur team-tennis championship of the world, inaugurated in 1963 by the International Lawn Tennis Federation in observance of its 50th anniversary. The first competition, an elimination tournament involving teams of three players from 16 nations, was ...
Federation of Labour Exchanges: federation of French workers' organizations (bourses) established in 1892. The bourse was a combination of a labour exchange (dealing with job placement), a workers' club and cultural centre, and a central labour union. The federation advocated direct action to bring ...
Federer, Heinrich: novelist who imparted new vigour to Christian fiction in Switzerland.
Federici, Camillo: Italian dramatist and actor, whose comedies were highly popular in the late 18th century.
Fedin, Konstantin Aleksandrovich: Soviet writer noted primarily for his early novels that portray the difficulties of intellectuals in Soviet Russia.
Fedorenko, Nikolai Trofimovich: Soviet diplomat, ambassador to the UN (1963-68), and Oriental scholar.
fee: in modern common law, an estate of inheritance (land or other realty) over which a person has absolute ownership. The owner may put it virtually to any use-sell it, give it away, rent or lease it, mortgage it, or bequeath ...