Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Parmelia ... Parsons, Sir Charles Algernon

Parmelia: largest genus of foliose (leafy) lichens, which includes among its members the species commonly known as crottle and skull lichen. Crottle, the largest foliose lichen, resembles crumpled leather and sometimes grows 90 to 120 centimetres in diameter. It is characterized ...
Parmenides: Greek philosopher of Elea in southern Italy who founded Eleaticism, one of the leading pre-Socratic schools of Greek thought. His general teaching has been diligently reconstructed from the few surviving fragments of his principal work, a lengthy three-part verse composition ...
Parmenio: Macedonian general usually considered the best officer in the service of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great.
Parmentier, Andre: Belgian-born American horticulturist, responsible for exhibiting many plant species in America.
Parmesan: hard, sharp cow's-milk cheese used primarily in grated form. The original Parmigiano-Reggiano is produced within a strictly delineated region in Italy that includes the towns of Parma, Modena, and Mantua and part of Bologna. The official name, along with the ...
Parmigianino: painter who was one of the first artists to develop the elegant and sophisticated version of Mannerist style that became a formative influence on the post-High Renaissance generation.
Parnaiba: port city, northwestern Piaui state, northeastern Brazil. It is located on the Igaracu River, an outlet of the Parnaiba River, 9 miles (14 km) upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. Founded in 1761 and given city status in 1884, Parnaiba is ...
Parnaiba River: river, northeastern Brazil, rising in the Serra da Tabatinga and flowing north-northeastward for 1,056 mi (1,700 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean, forming a delta at its mouth. In addition to marking the border between the states of Maranhao ...
Parnassia: genus of North American perennial herbs more commonly known as grass of Parnassus (q.v.).
Parnassian: member of a group of 19th-century French poets headed by Leconte de Lisle, who stressed restraint, objectivity, technical perfection, and precise description as a reaction against the emotionalism and verbal imprecision of the Romantics. The poetic movement led by the ...
parnassian butterfly: any member of the insect subfamily Parnassiinae of the cosmopolitan family Papilionidae (order Lepidoptera). The parnassian (Parnassius), also known as apollo, found in mountainous alpine regions in Asia, Europe, and North America, is a medium-sized butterfly, generally with translucent white, ...
Parnassus, Mount: mountain barren limestone spur of the Pindus Mountains, central Greece, running northwest-southeast on the borders of the nomoi (departments) of Phocis, Fthiotis, and Boeotia. Rising to a maximum elevation of 8,061 ft (2,457 m) in Mt. Parnassus, within sight of ...
Parnell, Charles Stewart: Irish nationalist, member of the British Parliament (1875-91), and the leader of the struggle for Irish Home Rule in the late 19th century. In 1889-90 he was ruined by proof of his adultery with Katherine O'Shea, whom he subsequently married.
Parnell, Thomas: Irish poet, essayist, and friend of Alexander Pope, who relied on Parnell's scholarship in his translation of the Iliad. Parnell's poetry, written in heroic couplets, was esteemed by Pope for its lyric quality and stylistic ease. Among his best poems ...
Parni: one of three nomadic or seminomadic tribes in the confederacy of the Dahae living east of the Caspian Sea; its members founded the Parthian empire. After the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) the Parni apparently moved southward into ...
Parnicki, Teodor: Polish historical novelist who modernized the genre through his interest in psychoanalysis and his use of innovative narrative techniques.
Parnu: city, Estonia, at the mouth of the Parnu River on Parnu Bay of the Gulf of Riga. First mentioned in 1251 as a member of the Hanseatic League, Parnu was successively controlled by the Teutonic Knights, the Poles, the Swedes, ...
Paro: town, western Bhutan, in the Himalayas on the Paro River. Centred on Fort Paro, a large rectangular building with a seven-story tower, it was the main cultural, commercial, and political centre of the country until the national capital was settled ...
parochial education: education offered institutionally by a religious group. In the United States, parochial education refers to the schooling obtained in elementary and secondary schools that are maintained by Roman Catholic parishes, Protestant churches, or Jewish organizations; that are separate from the ...
parody: (Greek paroidia, "a song sung alongside another"), in literature, a form of satirical criticism or comic mockery that imitates the style and manner of a particular writer or school of writers so as to emphasize the weakness of the writer ...
parody: in music, originally the creative reworking of several voice parts of a preexistent composition to form a new composition, frequently a mass; in modern musical usage, parody usually refers to the humorous imitation of a serious composition. The earliest known ...
parole: form of supervised conditional liberty from prison granted prior to the expiration of the sentence. As a form of correctional treatment, parole is designed to enhance the protection of the community through the supervision and rehabilitation of selected offenders following ...
Paros: island, one of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, Greece, separated from Naxos on the east by a channel 4 mi (6 km) wide. With an area of 75 sq mi (194.5 sq km), it is formed by a single ...
Parra, Nicanor: one of the most important Latin American poets of his time, the originator of so-called antipoetry (poetry that opposes traditional poetic techniques or styles).
Parramatta: city within the Sydney metropolitan area, New South Wales, Australia. It lies along the 15-mile- (24-kilometre-) long Parramatta River (which enters Port Jackson harbour). The second European settlement in Australia, it was founded in 1788 by Governor Arthur Phillip as ...
Parrhasius: one of the greatest painters of ancient Greece.
Parrington, Vernon L.: American literary historian and teacher noted for his far-reaching appraisal of American literary history.
Parris Island: one of the Sea Islands on the Atlantic coast, in Port Royal Sound, just south of Port Royal Island, in Beaufort county, southern South Carolina, U.S. Spanish Franciscans and Jesuits came there in the 1520s and attempted to establish missions ...
Parris, Alexander: American architect, a principal exponent of the Greek Revival style in early 19th-century Massachusetts.
Parrish, Anne: American philanthropist whose school for indigent girls, founded in the late 18th century, existed well into the 20th.
Parrish, Celestia Susannah: American educator who worked in the South to open higher education to women and to promote progressive education for children.
Parrish, Maxfield: American illustrator and painter who was perhaps the most popular commercial artist in the United States in the first half of the 20th century.
parrot: term applied to a large group of gaudy, raucous birds of the family Psittacidae. Parrot also is used in reference to any member of a larger bird group, order Psittaciformes, which includes cockatoos (family Cacatuidae) as well. Parrots have been ...
parrot fish: any of about 80 species of fishes of the family Scaridae (order Perciformes) found on tropical reefs. Parrot fishes are elongated, usually rather blunt-headed and deep-bodied, and often very brightly coloured. They have large scales and a characteristic birdlike beak ...
parrotbill: any of 14 species of the songbird family Panuridae (order Passeriformes) that have a deep and compressed bill like a parrot's. They occur in brushy grasslands of central and eastern Asia. A typical species is Gould's parrotbill (Paradoxornis flavirostris); 18 ...
Parrott, Robert Parker: U.S. inventor who developed the rifled cannon known as the Parrott gun, the most formidable cannon of its time.
Parry Sound: town, seat of Parry Sound district, southeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay of Lake Huron, at the mouth of the Seguin River, 120 miles (190 km) north of Toronto. Named in honour of the ...
Parry, Sir Hubert, Baronet: composer, writer, and teacher, influential in the revival of English music at the end of the 19th century.
parsec: unit for expressing distances to stars and galaxies, used by professional astronomers. It represents the distance at which the radius of the Earth's orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc; thus a star at a distance of one ...
Parshvanatha: the 23rd Tirthankara ("Ford-maker," i.e., saviour) of the present age, according to Jainism, a religion of India.
Parsi: member of a group of followers in India of the Iranian prophet Zoroaster. The Parsis, whose name means "Persians," are descended from Persian Zoroastrians who emigrated to India to avoid religious persecution by the Muslims. They live chiefly in Bombay ...
Parsippany-Troy Hills: township, Morris county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S. The township extends eastward from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the Passaic River swamps, 23 miles (37 km) west of New York City. Communities within the township include Manor Lakes, Lake ...
parsley: (species Petroselinum crispum), hardy biennial herb of the family Apiaceae, or Umbelliferae, native to Mediterranean lands. Parsley leaves were used by the ancient Greeks and Romans as a flavouring and garnish for foods. The compound leaves-deep green, tender, and curled ...
parsnip: (species Pastinaca sativa), member of the parsley family (Apiaceae), cultivated since ancient times for its large, tapering, fleshy white root, which is edible and has a distinctive flavour. The root is found on roadsides and in open places in Great ...
Parson's Cause: dispute involving Anglican clergy in colonial Virginia, arising (1755, 1758) when laws commuted clerical salaries, previously paid in tobacco, to currency at the rate of twopence a pound when tobacco was selling at sixpence a pound. A royal veto (1759) ...
Parsons table: simple, sturdy rectangular table having straight lines, overall flush surfaces, and square legs that form the four corners of the top and whose diameter is identical with the thickness of the top. It is not certain who designed the Parsons ...
Parsons, Elsie Clews: American sociologist and anthropologist whose studies of the Pueblo and other Native American peoples of the southwestern United States remain standard references.
Parsons, Louella: American newspaper writer, the first-and, for many years, most powerful-movie columnist in the United States.
Parsons, Richard D.: American media executive who became chief executive officer (CEO) of AOL Time Warner (now Time Warner) in 2002. He stepped into the position when it was evident that Internet company America Online (AOL), which had recently acquired media corporation Time ...
Parsons, Robert: Jesuit who, with Cardinal William Allen, organized Roman Catholic resistance in England to the Protestant regime of Queen Elizabeth I. He favoured armed intervention by the continental Catholic powers as a means of restoring Catholicism in England, and he probably ...
Parsons, Sir Charles Algernon: British engineer whose invention of a multi-stage steam turbine revolutionized marine propulsion.