in medieval Muslim Spain, Slavs, or people from the Black Sea coast north of Constantinople. Later, by extension, the term came to designate all foreign slaves in the military.
part of the necropolis of the ancient city of Memphis, Egypt, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Cairo and west of the modern Arab village of Saqqarah. The site extends along the edge of the desert plateau for about 5 ...
mountain range in western Macedonia, one of the most rugged and impassable in the Balkans, extending northeast-southwest for about 47 miles (75 km). A southern continuation along the Albanian frontier, which includes the Korab, Bistra, Jablanica, and Galicica massifs, makes ...
cluster of peoples living on the fringe of the southern Sudan, especially in the northwestern regions of the Central African Republic and the south-central area surrounding Sarh, south of Lake Chad in Chad. They include the Gula, Kara, Kreish, Nduka, ...
town, central Thailand, northeast of Bangkok. Sara Buri (locally called Pak Phrieo) is on the south bank of the Pa Sak River. Its economy is based on textile, metalworking, food-manufacturing, clothing, and woodworking industries. The Phra Buddha Bat shrine in ...
major American producer of frozen baked goods, fresh and processed meats, coffee, hosiery and knitwear, and household and shoe-care products. It is headquartered in Chicago.
originally, a dance considered disreputable in 16th-century Spain, and, later, a slow, stately dance that was popular in France. Possibly of Mexican origin or perhaps evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influence that was modified in the New World, ...
in the Middle Ages, any person-Arab, Turk, or other-who professed the religion of Islam. Earlier in the Roman world, there had been references to Saracens (Greek: Sarakenoi) by late classical authors in the first three centuries AD, the term being ...
writing system used for the Kashmiri language by the educated Hindu minority in Kashmir and the surrounding valleys. It is taught in the Hindu schools there but is not used in printing books. Originating in the 8th century AD, Sarada ...
statesman and founder of the Socialist Party of Italian Workers (PSLI), who held many ministerial posts from 1944 to 1964, when he became president of the Italian Republic (1964-71).
in the Old Testament, wife of Abraham and mother of Isaac. Sarah was childless until she was 90 years old. God promised Abraham that she would be "a mother of nations" (Genesis 17:16) and that she would conceive and bear ...
city, southern Bihar state, northeastern India. The city is a road and agricultural-trade centre located on an undulating plain with copper, iron-ore, asbestos, and limestone deposits. Saraikela was the capital of a former princely state that was founded by Bikram ...
capital and cultural centre of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies in the narrow valley of the Miljacka River at the foot of Mount Trebevic. The city retains a strong Muslim character, having many mosques, wooden houses with ornate interiors, and ...
city, east-central Kazakstan. A major centre of coal mining in the Qaraghandy coal basin, it was established in 1946 near the Saran coal deposit and became a city in 1954. The city's manufactures include chemical and rubber product plants. Pop. ...
village and year-round resort, astride the Essex-Franklin county line, northeastern New York, U.S. It is situated on small Flower Lake near the Saranac and St. Regis chain of lakes, in the Adirondack Mountains.
American film actress who transcended the early roles of her career, when she often played characters who were highly sensual but little else, to become a performer of considerable versatility and emotional depth. In 1995 she won an Academy Award ...
short-necked fiddle used throughout South Asia, particularly for folk and classical Hindustani music. Measuring about 30 inches (76 cm) long, its roughly rectangular, slightly waisted body and broad, fretless neck are generally carved from a single piece of wood. It ...
city, northwestern Madhya Pradesh state, central India, just east of the Kali Sindh River. Sarangpur is located on an ancient site. It has a number of Jaina and Hindu ruins, including a 12th-century Jaina statue. It rose to importance in ...
city and capital of Mordvinia, in western Russia. It lies along the upper Insar River and on the western flank of the Volga River uplands. The city was founded in 1641 as a stronghold on the Saransk defensive line. It ...
either of two temples of ancient Egypt, dedicated to the worship of the Greco-Egyptian god Sarapis (Serapis). The original elaborate temple of that name was located on the west bank of the Nile near Saqqarah and originated as a monument ...
Greco-Egyptian deity of the sun first encountered at Memphis, where his cult was celebrated in association with that of the sacred Egyptian bull Apis (who was called Osorapis when deceased). He was thus originally a god of the underworld but ...
city and centre of Sarapul rayon (sector) of Udmurtia, in western Russia. It is a port on the Kama River. Founded in the 16th century as a Russian stronghold on the trade route to Siberia, it was attacked by Pugachov ...
French author of elegant verse, best known for the mock epic Dulot vaincu ("Dulot Defeated"), for the epic fragments Rollon conquerant ("Roland in Conquest") and La Guerre espagnole ("The Spanish War"), and for La Pompe funebre de Voiture ("Voiture's Funeral ...
city, seat (1921) of Sarasota county, west-central Florida, U.S. It lies along Sarasota Bay (an arm of the Gulf of Mexico), about 60 miles (95 km) south of Tampa. Sarasota, variously spelled Sara Zota, Sarazota, and Sarasote, appeared on maps ...
Hindu goddess of learning and the arts. She is first referred to in literature as the personification of the sacred river, the Sarasvati, and is also identified with Vac, the goddess of speech. In later Hinduism she is usually considered ...
county, eastern New York state, U.S., bounded by the Hudson River to the northeast and east and the Mohawk River to the southeast. Other waterways include Snook Kill and Great Sacandaga, Saratoga, and Galway lakes. The terrain rises from Hudson ...
city, Saratoga county, east-central New York, U.S. It lies in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, west of the Hudson River, 30 miles (48 km) north of Albany. Possessing numerous natural mineral springs, its site was an ancient Mohawk Indian ...
in the American Revolution, closely related engagements in the fall of 1777 that are often called the turning point of the war in favour of the Americans. The failure of the American invasion of Canada in 1775-76 had left a ...
city and administrative centre of Saratov oblast (province), western Russia. The city lies along the middle course of the Volga River and was founded in 1590 as a fortress to protect the trade route along the Volga ...
oblast (province), western Russia. With an area of 38,700 square miles (100,200 square km), the oblast lies in the basin of the middle Volga River, which bisects it north-south. Saratov city is the administrative centre.
historic region that is now a state of Malaysia. It comprises the northwestern part of the island of Borneo and is bounded by the sultanate of Brunei and Sabah (Malaysia) on the north and by Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) on the ...
prominent American professional golfer of the 1920s and '30s. His double eagle-i.e., his score of three strokes under par-on the par-five 15th hole in the last round of the 1935 Masters Tournament is one of the most famous shots in ...
North American Plains Indian people of Athabascan linguistic stock who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries near the upper Saskatchewan and Athabaska rivers. They probably moved southward to this region near the end of the 17th century when they ...
genus of sporozoan parasites (phylum Protozoa) that are found in the heart and skeletal muscles of mammals (cattle, pigs, sheep, and man), birds, and reptiles. Infected muscle tissue contains white, cystlike masses (sarcocysts) that range from 25 micrometres (0.001 inch) ...
any protozoan of the superclass (sometimes class or subphylum) Sarcodina. These organisms have streaming cytoplasm and use temporary cytoplasmic extensions called pseudopodia in locomotion (called amoeboid movement) and feeding. Sarcodines include the genus Amoeba (see amoeba) and pathogenic species, e.g., ...
systemic disease of unknown cause that is characterized by the formation of granulation (scarlike) tissue. Sarcoidosis often disappears spontaneously within two or three years but may progress to involve more than one organ. It is observed in the lungs, lymph ...
tumour of connective tissue (also called mesodermal, or mesenchymal, cells). This form of cancer is relatively rare in adults but is one of the more common malignancies among children; it often spreads to other tissues in the body. Sarcomas are ...
stone coffin. The original term is of doubtful meaning; Pliny explains that the word denotes a coffin of limestone from the Troad (the region around Troy) which had the property of dissolving the body quickly (Greek sarx, "flesh"; phagein, "to ...
translucent, light- to dark-brown varieties of the silica mineral chalcedony, historically two of the most widely used semiprecious stones. Sard and its close relative carnelian have been used in engraved jewelry for centuries. Sard (from Sardis, the ancient capital of ...
river rising in the Himalayas and flowing south-southeast along the India-Nepal border to join the Ghaghara River after a course of about 300 miles (480 km). In its upper course, where the stream is known as the Kali River, it ...
communal dance intimately bound up with Catalan national consciousness. It is danced by men and women who join hands alternately in a closed circle. As they dance to the music of tenores and tabales (shawms and small drums), their faces ...
legendary king of Assyria. He apparently represents an amalgamation of the characters and tragic fates of three Assyrian rulers: Ashurbanipal (q.v.; ruled 668-627 BC); his brother, Shamash-shum-ukin; and the last Assyrian king, Sin-shar-ishkun.
(342/343), an ecclesiastical council of the Christian Church held at Sardica, or Serdica (modern Sofia, Bulg.). It was convened by the joint emperors Constantius II (Eastern, sympathetic to the Arian party) and Constans I (Western, sympathetic to the Nicene party) ...
any of certain food fishes of the herring (q.v.) family, Clupeidae, especially members of the genera Sardina,Sardinops, and Sardinella; the name sardine can also refer to the common herring (Clupea harengus) and to other small herrings or herringlike fishes ...
kingdom of the house of Savoy from 1720, which was centred on the lands of Piedmont (in northwestern Italy) and Sardinia. In 1718, by the Treaty of London among the great powers, Victor Amadeus II, duke of Savoy and sovereign ...
island and regione of Italy, second in size only to Sicily among the islands of the western Mediterranean. It lies 120 miles (200 km) west of the mainland of Italy, 7.5 miles (12 km) south of the neighbouring French island ...
