Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

0-9

Opuntia ... Oratorian

Opuntia: largest cactus genus of the family Cactaceae, native to the New World and featuring the characteristic glochidia-small bristles with backward-facing barbs. The genus is divided into subgroups based on the form of the stem segments. Opuntias that have cylindrical joints ...
Opus: in ancient Greece, the chief city of the Locri Opuntii. Its site may have been at modern Atalandi or at Kiparissi. Homer in his Iliad mentioned Opus, and Pindar devoted his ninth Olympian ode mainly to its glory and traditions. ...
opus Alexandrinum: in mosaic, type of decorative pavement work widely used in Byzantium in the 9th century. It utilized tiny, geometrically shaped pieces of coloured stone and glass paste that were arranged in intricate geometric patterns dotted with large disks of semiprecious ...
opus anglicanum: (Latin: "English work"), embroidery done in England between about 1100 and about 1350 and of a standard unsurpassed anywhere. The technical skill that was shown by English workers in handling gold-i.e., silver gilt thread-was unequaled. Gold was used in large ...
Opus Dei: Roman Catholic lay and clerical organization whose members seek personal Christian perfection and strive to implement Christian ideals and values in their occupations and in society as a whole. Theologically conservative, Opus Dei accepts the teaching authority of the church ...
opus interassile: metalwork technique developed in Rome and widely used during the 3rd century AD, especially appropriate for making arabesques and other nonrepresentational ornamental designs. Probably of Syrian origin, the technique consists of piercing holes in the metal to create an openwork ...
opus sectile: type of mosaic work in which figural patterns are composed of pieces of stone or, sometimes, shell or mother-of-pearl cut in shapes to fit the component parts of the design, thereby differing in approach from the more common type of ...
opus signinum: in mosaic, type of simple, unpatterned or roughly patterned pavement commonly used in Roman times. It was composed of river gravel, small pieces of stone, or terra-cotta fragments cemented in lime or clay.
opus tessellatum: mosaic technique that involves the use of tesserae (small cubes of stone, marble, glass, ceramic, or other hard material) of uniform size applied to a ground to form pictures and ornamental designs. Opus tessellatum was the most commonly used technique ...
opus vermiculatum: type of mosaic work frequently used in Hellenistic and Roman times, in which part or all of a figural mosaic is made up of small, closely set tesserae (cubes of stone, ceramic, glass, or other hard material) that permit fine ...
Oquirrh Mountains: mountain range that extends about 30 miles (50 km) southward from the southern end of the Great Salt Lake, Utah, U.S., overlooking the Tooele and Salt Lake valleys. The mountains take their name from a Goshute Indian word meaning "wooded ...
oracle: (Latin oraculum from orare, "to pray," or "to speak"), divine communication delivered in response to a petitioner's request; also, the seat of prophecy itself. Oracles were a branch of divination but differed from the casual pronouncements of augurs by being ...
Oradea: city, capital of Bihor judet (county), northwestern Romania. It lies about 8 miles (13 km) east of the Hungarian border, along the Crisul Repede River where it leaves the western foothills of the Western Carpathians and flows onto the Hungarian ...
Oradour-sur-Glane: village, Haute-Vienne departement, Limousin region, south-central France. It is located 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Limoges.
Oraefajokull: ice-covered volcanic massif, southeastern Iceland. It lies at the southern end of the giant ice field of Vatnajokull (q.v.). Its highest peak, Mount Hvannadals, reaches an elevation of 6,952 feet (2,119 m) above sea level and is also the highest ...
Orage, Alfred Richard: influential English editor and social thinker.
Oraibi: Hopi pueblo (village), Navajo county, northeastern Arizona, U.S. The pueblo is situated on the narrow, rocky Third Mesa of the Hopi Indian Reservation. It is the unofficial capital of the reservation and is thought to be the oldest continuously occupied ...
Oral: city, western Kazakhstan, along the Ural (Zhayyq) River. Founded in 1613 or 1622 by Cossacks fleeing a tsarist punitive campaign, it was known as Yaitsky Gorodok until 1775, when its name was changed following the Pugachov Rebellion. The town was ...
oral cancer: disease characterized by the growth of cancerous cells in the mouth, including the lips. Oral cancer is often associated with cancers of the cavity located behind the tonsils and the back of the throat (oropharyngeal cancer). Most cases originate from ...
Oral Roberts University: private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. An interdenominational Protestant university, it emphasizes fundamentalist Christian values in its programs. A range of undergraduate programs leading to a bachelor's degree is offered through schools of Arts and Sciences, ...
oral stage: in Freudian psychoanalytic theory, initial psychosexual stage during which the developing infant's main concerns are with oral gratification. The oral phase in the normal infant has a direct bearing on the infant's activities during the first 18 months of life. ...
oral surgery: dental specialty that deals with the diagnosis and surgical treatment of the diseases, injuries, and defects of the human mouth, jaw, and associated structures. The most common oral surgery procedure is tooth extraction. Other dental problems that require the skill ...
Oran: city, northwestern Algeria. It lies along an open bay on the Mediterranean Sea coast, about midway between Tangier (Morocco) and Algiers, at the point where Algeria is closest to Spain. With the adjacent city of Mers el-Kebir, a fishing centre ...
Orange: city, seat (1852) of Orange county, southeastern Texas, U.S. It lies at the Louisiana state line. Orange is a deepwater port on the Sabine River, which has been canalized to connect with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. It is linked to ...
Orange: township, Essex county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies just west of Newark. Named Mountain Plantations when it was settled in 1678, it was later renamed to honour William, prince of Orange, who became William III of Great Britain. Orange ...
Orange: town (township), New Haven county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S., west of New Haven on the Housatonic River. Originally a part of Milford colony (on land bought from the Paugusset Indians and settled in 1639), it was known as North Milford. In ...
orange: any of several species of small trees or shrubs of the genus Citrus of the family Rutaceae and their nearly round fruits, which have leathery and oily rinds and edible, juicy inner flesh. The species of orange most important commercially ...
Orange: county, southeastern New York state, U.S., located mostly in the Hudson River valley. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the northwest (the Delaware River constituting the boundary), New Jersey to the southwest, and the Hudson River to the east. Among ...
Orange: city, east-central New South Wales, Australia. It is located near the slopes of Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano. In 1828 the area was named by Sir Thomas Mitchell in memory of the Prince of Orange, his commander during the Peninsular ...
Orange: town, Vaucluse departement, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, southeastern France. It lies in a fertile plain on the left bank of the Rhone River, north of Avignon.
Orange: county, eastern Vermont, U.S., bounded to the east by New Hampshire; the Connecticut River constitutes the border. It consists of a piedmont region that includes Butterfield, Knox, and Braintree mountains. The county is drained by the Ompompanoosuc, White, Waits, and ...
Orange: city, Orange county, southern California, U.S. Adjacent to Anaheim (west) and Santa Ana (south), it lies along the Santa Ana River. Part of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, the city was founded as Richland in 1869 by Alfred Chapman and ...
Orange Bowl: intersectional American college gridiron football game played for many years on New Year's Day in Miami, Florida. By the late 1990s it was often played on January 2 or 3. It is one of the four bowls included in the ...
Orange Free State: historical Boer state in southern Africa that became a province of the Republic of South Africa in 1910. One of the four traditional provinces of South Africa, it was bordered by the Transvaal to the north, Natal and the independent ...
Orange Order: an Irish Protestant and political society, named for the Protestant William of Orange, who, as King William III of Great Britain, had defeated the Roman Catholic king James II.
Orange River: river in southern Africa, one of the longest rivers on the continent and one of the longest south of the Tropic of Capricorn. After rising in the Lesotho Highlands, less than 125 miles (200 kilometres) from the Indian Ocean, the ...
Orange Walk: town, northwestern Belize, situated on the left (west) bank of the New River. Established in early colonial times, it was pillaged by hostile Indians in 1872. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it conducted a thriving trade in ...
Orange, councils of: two church synods held in Orange, France, in 441 and 529. The first, under the presidency of St. Hilary of Arles, dealt mainly with disciplinary matters. The second, and by far the more important, was concerned with refuting the Semi-Pelagianism ...
Orange, House of: princely dynasty that derived its name from the medieval principality of Orange, in old Provence in southern France. The dynasty was important in the history of The Netherlands and is that nation's royal family.
orange-tip butterfly: member of the cosmopolitan insect family Pieridae (order Lepidoptera), which also includes the white and sulfur butterflies and contains more than 1,000 species. Adults have a wingspan of 37 to 63 mm (1.5 to 2.5 inches). The orange-tips (so called ...
Orangeburg: city, seat of Orangeburg county, central South Carolina, U.S. It is situated on the North Fork Edisto River. In 1735 Germans, Swiss, and Dutch established a settlement, naming it for William IV, prince of Orange. The Donald Bruce House (c. ...
Orangeburg: county, central South Carolina, U.S. The South Fork Edisto and Edisto rivers form the southwestern boundary, and the North Fork Edisto River flows through the southwestern part of the county. Lake Marion lies along the irregular northeastern end, with Santee ...
orangery: garden building designed for the wintering of exotic shrubs and trees, primarily orange trees. The earliest orangeries were practical buildings that could be completely covered by planks and sacking and heated in the cold season by stoves; such buildings existed ...
Oranges, War of the: (1801), brief conflict in which France and Spain fought against Portugal. The war was brought about by Portugal's refusal in 1800 to accept Napoleon's demands to become a political and economic extension of France and to cede to France the ...
orangutan: the only Asian great ape, found in lowland rainforests on the Southeast Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. The orangutan possesses cognitive abilities comparable to those of the gorilla and the chimpanzee, which are the only primates more closely related ...
Oranjemund: planned company town in one of the principal gem-diamond producing areas of the world, in extreme southwestern Namibia. It is located near the Atlantic coast about 5 miles (8 km) north of the mouth of the Orange River, in the ...
Oranjestad: seaport and chief administrative centre of the Caribbean island of Aruba, located on the island's western coast. It is a free port and a petroleum-processing and shipping centre. The enclosed harbour, with two basins, has modern cargo-handling and fueling equipment. ...
orant: in Christian art, a figure in a posture of prayer, usually standing upright with raised arms. The motif of the orant, which seems to reflect the standard attitude of prayer adopted by the first Christians, is particularly important in Early ...
Oraon: aboriginal people of the Chota Nagpur region in the state of Bihar, India. They call themselves Kurukh and speak a Dravidian language akin to Gondi and other tribal languages of central India. They once lived farther to the southwest on ...
Orapa: mining town, east-central Botswana. It is located about 240 miles (385 km) north of Gaborone, the national capital. Situated on the eastern edge of the Kalahari (desert), the town was built to accommodate mine workers after the discovery in 1967 ...
Oratorian: member of either of two separate but similar congregations of secular priests, one centred in Rome and the other in France.