Protestant visionary and theosophist, who promoted the quasi-pantheistic teaching of the early 17th-century Lutheran mystic Jakob Bohme and compiled the first complete edition of Bohme's works (1682-83, 10 vol.). Alienated from orthodox Lutheran doctrine and worship by his ascetic tendency ...
traditional pastoral dance performed by women of the Punjab, India, and Pakistan at festival times and at the sowing and reaping of the harvest. Patterned on a circle, it is notable for the bodily grace of the women's movements (especially ...
one of the scholars responsible for transforming American sociology from a branch of philosophy into a research science utilizing statistical and analytic methodology.
a judge and hero-liberator of Israel whose deeds are described in the Book of Judges. The author apparently juxtaposed two traditional accounts from his sources in order to emphasize Israel's monotheism and its duty to destroy idolatry. Accordingly, in one ...
organization of Christian business and professional laymen that places copies of the Bible in hotel rooms, hospitals, penal institutions, and schools. Organized by three travelling men in Janesville, Wis., July 1, 1899, the association began placing Bibles in November 1908. ...
English actor, producer, and director, who is considered one of the greatest performers of his generation on stage and screen, particularly as a Shakespearean actor. He was knighted in 1953 for services to the theatre. (Click here to hear ...
legal philosopher who was a leader of the Germanist school of historical jurisprudence in opposition to the Romanist theoreticians of German law (e.g., Friedrich Karl von Savigny). An incomplete knowledge of his work led some advocates of a pluralistic, decentralized ...
Giers also spelled Girs statesman and foreign minister of Russia during the reign of Alexander III (ruled 1881-94). He guided Russia into a rapprochement with France and thereby formed the basis of the Russo-Franco-British alliance that fought against the Central ...
city, Hessen Land (state), west-central Germany. It lies on the Lahn River between the Westerwald and Vogelsberg (mountains), north of Frankfurt am Main. First mentioned in 1197, it was chartered in 1248 and sold to the landgraves ...
U.S. anthropologist, archaeologist, and student of California Indian ethnography who developed the University of California Museum of Anthropology, Berkeley, into a major U.S. collection.
English satirical poet, classical scholar, and early editor of 17th-century English playwrights, remembered as first editor (1809-24) of The Quarterly Review, founded by John Murray, a leading London publisher, to combat the liberalism of The Edinburgh Review. Gifford owed his ...
in law, a present or thing bestowed gratuitously. The term is generally restricted to mean gratuitous transfers inter vivos (among the living) of real or personal property. A valid gift requires: (1) a competent donor; (2) an eligible donee; (3) ...
the transfer of goods or services that, although regarded as voluntary by the people involved, is part of the expected social behaviour. Gift exchange may be distinguished from other types of exchange in several respects: the first offering is made ...
a levy imposed on gratuitous transfers of property-i.e., those made without compensation. Provisions for such taxes are common in national tax systems.
an illustrated literary miscellany, or collection of verse, tales, and sketches. The giftbook was popular in England and the United States during the second quarter of the 19th century and was published annually in ornamental format.
any of various children who are naturally endowed with a high degree of mental ability. Since little is known about special abilities, the term is usually confined in psychological and educational writings to a child whose innate general ability rises ...
city and prefecture (ken), central Honshu, Japan, occupying an area of 4,091 sq mi (10,596 sq km). It is landlocked and dominated by mountains except in the south, where the inner part of Nobi-heiya (Nobi Plain) is drained by the ...
any of several members of a class of light, open, two-wheeled, one-horse carriages, popular in France, England, and America. The gig, which first appeared in Paris in the 17th century, is the ancestor of the cabriolet. Popular variations were the ...
grotesque wooden mask worn by participants in gigaku, a type of Japanese dance drama. Gigaku masks are the first known masks used in Japan and among the world's oldest extant masks. Soon after a Korean musician named Mimashi imported gigaku ...
excessive growth in stature, well beyond the average for the individual's race and environmental conditions. In many cases tall stature results from hereditary, dietary, or other factors. In other cases, gigantism is caused by disease or disorder in those parts ...
genus of large fossil ape, of which two species are known: Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis, which lived 6 to 9 million years ago in India, and Gigantopithecus blacki, which lived in China until at least 1 million years ago. These apes are ...
mountainous, volcanic islet of the Tuscan Archipelago, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, opposite Mount Argentario, on the west coast of Italy. Part of Grosseto province, the island rises to 1,634 feet (498 m) and has an area of 8 square miles ...
French geologist who contributed to knowledge of the stratigraphy of the Mediterranean during the Pliocene (5.3 to 1.6 million years ago) and Quaternary (from 1.6 million years ago to the present).
dance that is a courtly version of the English jig (q.v.) and which became popular in aristocratic circles of Europe during the 17th century. Whereas true jigs were quick and wild solo dances of indefinite form, gigues were danced by ...
town and commercial centre situated in Asturias provincia (province) and comunidad autonoma (autonomous community), northwestern Spain. It is located on the Bay of Biscay at the foot of Santa Catalina Hill, just northeast of ...
major Spanish Kabbalist whose writings influenced those of Moses de Leon, presumed author of the Zohar ("Book of Splendour"), an important work of Jewish mysticism. Gikatilla's early studies of philosophy and the Talmud (the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and ...
prefecture (Kinyarwanda prefegitura),southwestern Rwanda, Central Africa, bordering Burundi (south) and the Rwandan prefectures of Kibuye and Gitarama (north), Cyangugu (west), and Butare (east). Most of Gikongoro's area of 845 sq mi (2,190 sq km) lies in the mountainous watershed ...
father and son who were celebrated architects. Juan, the father, was maestro mayor (official architect) of Segovia cathedral and designed in a late medieval style. The son, Rodrigo, succeeded to the position of maestro mayor, working in a style that ...
town, Maricopa county, southwestern Arizona, U.S., 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Phoenix. The Gila River makes a sweeping 90° bend westward at this point, hence the name. The city is near a pre-Columbian Hohokam village first visited in 1699 ...
archaeological site in southwestern New Mexico, U.S., in the Gila National Forest near the headwaters of the Gila River. The name Gila is derived from the Yuma Indian term hahquahssael, meaning "salty water running." The monument lies in rugged country ...
(Heloderma suspectum), one of only two species of venomous lizards, both of the family Helodermatidae and both similar in appearance and habits. The Gila monster was named for the Gila River Basin and occurs in the southwestern United States and ...
river rising in southwestern New Mexico, U.S., in the Elk Mountains, near the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. The river, draining 58,100 sq mi (150,500 sq km), flows 630 mi (1,015 km) west and southwest over desert land to the ...
ostan (province), northwestern Iran, bounded by the Caspian Sea on the north, Azerbaijan on the northeast, Azarbaijan-e Sharqi ostan on the west, Zanjan ostan on the southwest, Markazi (Tehran) ostan on the south, and Mazandaran ostan on the east. Containing ...
Anglo-Norman Cluniac monk who became bishop of Hereford and later of London; he was an unsuccessful rival of Thomas Becket for the archbishopric of Canterbury and afterward was Becket's opponent in ecclesiastical and secular politics.
group of 16 coral atolls, part of Kiribati, in the west central Pacific Ocean 2,800 mi (4,500 km) northeast of Australia. The islands-Makin, Butaritari, Marakei, Abaiang, Tarawa, Maiana, Abemama, Kuria, Aranuka, Nonouti, Tabiteuea, Beru, Nikunau, Onotoa, Tamana, and Arorae-occupy a ...
English priest, prelate, and founder of the Ordo Gilbertinorum Canonicorum or Ordo Sempringensis (Order of Gilbertine Canons, or Sempringham Order), commonly called Gilbertines, the only medieval religious order of English origin.
architect, designer of the Woolworth Building (1908-13) in New York City and of the United States Supreme Court Building (completed 1935), Washington, D.C. Conscientious and prosperous but not especially original, he was an acknowledged leader of the architectural profession in ...
U.S. geologist, one of the founders of modern geomorphology, the study of landforms. He first recognized the applicability of the concept of dynamic equilibrium in landform configuration and evolution-namely, that landforms reflect a state of balance between the processes that ...
romantic leading man of the silent era, known as the "Great Lover." In retrospect, his acting career has been overshadowed by his identification as the tragic star who failed to make the transition to sound.
