Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

0-9

Jew's harp ... Jihocesky

Jew's harp: musical instrument consisting of a thin wood or metal tongue fixed at one end to the base of a two-pronged frame. The player holds the frame to his mouth, which forms a resonance cavity, and plucks the instrument's tongue. The ...
Jewel Cave National Monument: limestone caverns in southwestern South Dakota, U.S., 15 miles (24 km) west of Custer. Established in 1908, the monument occupies a surface area of 2 square miles (5 square km) in the Black Hills.
jewel orchid: any member of several closely related genera of orchids (family Orchidaceae) that are cultivated as ornamentals because of their striking leaf patterns.
Jewel, John: Anglican bishop of Salisbury and controversialist who defended Queen Elizabeth I's religious policies opposing Roman Catholicism. The works Jewel produced during the 1560s defined and clarified points of difference between the churches of England and Rome, thus strengthening the ability ...
Jewel-Osco: American retail grocery and pharmacy chain acquired by Albertson's, Inc., of Boise, Idaho, in 1999. The company originated in 1899, when Frank Vernon Skiff and Frank Ross founded the Jewel Tea Company to supply condiments to the Chicago area from ...
jewelry: objects of personal adornment prized for the craftsmanship going into their creation and generally for the value of their components as well.
Jewett, Frank Baldwin: U.S. electrical engineer and first president of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., who directed research in telephony, telegraphy, and radio and television communications.
Jewett, Sarah Orne: American writer of regional fiction that centred on life in Maine.
jewfish: any of several large fishes of the sea bass (q.v.) family (Serranidae), especially Epinephelus itajara, found on the Atlantic coast of tropical America. This species sometimes attains a length of 2.5 metres (8 feet) and a weight of about 320 ...
Jewish Agency: international body representing the World Zionist Organization, created in 1929 by Chaim Weizmann, with headquarters in Jerusalem. Its purpose is to assist and encourage Jews worldwide to help develop and settle Israel.
Jewish calendar: religious and civil dating system based on both lunar and solar cycles.
Jewish Daily Forward: Yiddish-language newspaper published in New York City and in regional centres in the United States.
Jewish religious year: the cycle of Sabbaths and holidays that are commonly observed by the Jewish religious community-and officially in Israel by the Jewish secular community as well. The Sabbath and festivals are bound to the Jewish calendar, reoccur at fixed intervals, and ...
Jewish Revolt, First: (AD 66-70), Jewish rebellion against Roman rule in Judaea. The First Jewish Revolt was the result of a long series of clashes in which small groups of Jews offered sporadic resistance to the Romans, who in turn responded with severe ...
Jewish Revolt, Second: (AD 132-135), Jewish rebellion against Roman rule in Judaea. The revolt was preceded by years of clashes between Jews and Romans in the area. Finally, in AD 132, the misrule of Tinnius Rufus, the Roman governor of Judaea, combined with ...
Jewish Theological Seminary of America: the academic and spiritual centre of Conservative Judaism in the United States. Founded in New York City in 1886 as the Jewish Theological Seminary Association, the institution was first headed by Rabbi Sabato Morais, whose declared goal was to educate ...
Jex-Blake, Sophia Louisa: British physician who successfully sought legislation (1876) permitting women in Britain to receive the M.D. degree and a license to practice medicine and surgery. Through her efforts a medical school for women was opened in London in 1874, and in ...
Jezebel: in the Old Testament (Kings I and II), the wife of King Ahab, who ruled the kingdom of Israel; by interfering with the exclusive worship of the Hebrew god Yahweh, disregarding the rights of the common man, and defying the ...
Jezreel: (May God Give Seed), ancient city of Palestine, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel under King Ahab, located on a spur of Mt. Gilboa in Israel. King Saul was slain there in a battle with the Philistines. It was ...
Jhabua: town, administrative headquarters of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh state, central India. Located on Bahadur Sagar (lake), it was founded in the 16th century by a Labhana freebooter and served as the capital of the former Jhabua princely state. It is ...
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer: German-born novelist and screenwriter, well known for her witty and insightful portrayals of contemporary Indian lives.
Jhalawar: town, administrative headquarters of Jhalawar district, Rajasthan state, northwestern India. The town-sometimes called Jhalrapatan, Jhalrapatan Chhaoni (cantonment), or Brijnagar-is a major road junction and agricultural market centre. The old town of Jhalrapatan (Patan) was founded in 1796. The new town, ...
Jhang Maghiana: city consisting of twin towns, headquarters of Jhang Maghiana District, Sargodha Division, Punjab Province, Pakistan, just east of the Chenab River. Maghiana lies on the edge of the highlands overlooking the alluvial valley, while Jhang occupies the lowlands at its ...
Jhansi: city, southwestern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, at a major road and rail junction. The main city, which is enclosed by a wall, arose around a fort built in 1613 by the ruler of Orchha. The area fell to the ...
Jharia: city and coalfield in southern Bihar state, eastern India. The coalfield lies in the Damodar Valley, covers about 110 square miles (280 square km), and produces bituminous coal suitable for coke. Most of India's coal comes from the Jharia and ...
Jhelum: town, Punjab province, northeastern Pakistan. The town lies just west of the Jhelum River (there bridged by both road and rail) and is connected by rail and the Grand Trunk Road with Peshawar and Lahore. The old town, across the ...
Jhelum River: river, westernmost of the five rivers in the Punjab that ultimately drain into the Indus River in Pakistan.
Jhering, Rudolf von: German legal scholar, sometimes called the father of sociological jurisprudence. He developed a philosophy of social utilitarianism that, in emphasizing the needs of society, differed from the individualist approach of the English utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham.
Jhunjhunu: city, northeastern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It is a local trade centre for wool, cattle, hides, and gram (chick-pea). The city's major industries include a dye factory and woolen mills. Jhunjhunu houses the mausoleum of Qamar-ud-Din Shah, patron saint of ...
jia: type of ancient Chinese vessel used for holding or heating wine and for pouring wine into the ground during a memorial ceremony.
Jia Xian: mathematician and astronomer active at the beginning of the greatest period of traditional Chinese mathematics.
jiaguwen: pictographic script found on oracle bones, it was widely used in divination in the Shang dynasty (c. 18th-12th century BC).
jian: type of ancient Chinese bronze vessel having a large, deep bowl with a heavy rim that is meant to contain water or ice.
Jian ware: dark brown or blackish Chinese stoneware made for domestic use chiefly during the Song dynasty (960-1279) and into the early 14th century. Jian ware was made in Fujian province, first in kilns at Jian'an and later at Jianyang.
Jiang Qing: Wade-Giles Chiang Ch'ing, stage name Lan Ping, original name Luan Shumeng third wife of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong and the most influential woman in the People's Republic of China until her downfall in 1976, after Mao's death. As a ...
Jiang Zemin: Chinese official who was general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP; 1989-2002) and president of China (1993-2003).
jib: in sailing ships, triangular sail rigged to a stay extending from the foremast, or foretopmast, to the bowsprit or to a spar, the jibboom, that is an extension of the bowsprit. The jib is first known to have been used ...
Jibril: in Islam, the archangel who acts as intermediary between God and man and as bearer of revelation to the prophets, most notably, to Muhammad. In biblical literature Gabriel is the counterpart to Jibril.
jicama: (species Pachyrhizus erosus, or P. tuberosus), leguminous vine native to Mexico and Central and South America, grown for its edible tuberous root. The plant's irregularly globular, brown-skinned tubers are white-fleshed, crisp, and juicy; some varieties (jicama de aqua) have clear ...
Jicaque: Indians of the northwest coast of Honduras. Their culture is similar to that of the Sumo and Miskito of northeastern Nicaragua. The Jicaque are an agricultural people, growing sweet manioc (yuca), bitter manioc, beans, and corn (maize) as staples. Fishing ...
Jicarilla Apache: North American Indian tribe of the Eastern Apache group (see Apache). In the late 20th century about 2,300 Jicarilla Apache lived on or near the Jicarilla federal reservation in north-central New Mexico.
Jiddah: city and major port in central Hejaz region, western Saudi Arabia. It lies along the Red Sea west of Mecca. The principal importance of Jiddah in history is that it constituted the port of Mecca and was thus the site ...
Jien: posthumous name Jichen learned Buddhist monk and poet who became the first great Japanese historian.
Jifarah, al-: coastal plain of northern Africa, on the Mediterranean coast of extreme northwestern Libya and of southeastern Tunisia. Roughly semicircular, it extends from Qabis (Gabes), Tunisia, to about 12 miles (20 km) east of Tripoli, Libya. Its maximum inland extent is ...
jig: folk dance, usually solo, that was popular in Scotland and northern England in the 16th and 17th centuries and in Ireland since the 18th century. It is an improvised dance performed with rapid footwork and a rigid torso.
Jigawa: state, northern Nigeria. It was created from the northeastern half of Kano state in 1991. Jigawa borders the Republic of Niger to the north and the Nigerian states of Yobe to the northeast, Bauchi to the southeast and south, Kano ...
Jigoku: in Japanese Buddhism, hell, a region popularly believed to be composed of a number of hot and cold regions located under the Earth. Jigoku is ruled over by Emma-o, the Japanese lord of death, who judges the dead by consulting ...
jigsaw puzzle: any set of varied, irregularly shaped pieces that, when properly assembled, form a picture or map. The puzzle is so named because the picture, originally attached to wood and later to paperboard, was cut into its pieces with a jigsaw, ...
jihad: ("struggle," or "battle"), a religious duty imposed on Muslims to spread Islam by waging war; jihad has come to denote any conflict waged for principle or belief and is often translated to mean "holy war."
Jihlava: city, Jihomoravsky kraj (region), south-central Czech Republic. It lies in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, along the Jihlava River. From about 1240, its prosperity rested on its silver mines. A royal mint operated there from about 1260, and a codified town mining ...
Jihocesky: kraj (region), southern Czech Republic. It is bordered on the north by Stredocesky and Vychodocesky kraje, on the east by Jihomoravsky kraj, on the south by Austria, on the southwest by Germany, and on the west by Zapadocesky kraj. The ...