Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Tapachula ... Tarbell, Ida M.

Tapachula: city, southeastern Chiapas estado ("state"), extreme southeastern Mexico. It is on the Coatan River, on the Pacific coastal plain, at 449 feet (137 m) above sea level, 9.5 miles (15 km) from the Guatemala border. Tapachula is the major manufacturing ...
tapaculo: any of about 27 species of ground-dwelling birds of the family Rhinocryptidae (order Passeriformes) of Central and South America. When disturbed they scurry for cover with tail lifted. Tapaculos are wren- to thrush-sized, with short wings, longish legs, and strong ...
Tapajos River: central Brazil, formed by the union of the Teles Pires and the Juruena rivers, in north-central Mato Grosso state. It winds northward through the Mato Grosso plateau and forms the state border between Mato Grosso and Amazonas and then between ...
tapas: (Sanskrit: "heat," or "ardour"), in Hinduism, ascetic practice voluntarily carried out to achieve spiritual power or purification. In the Vedas, tapas refers to the "inner heat" created by the practice of physical austerities and figured in the creation myths, as ...
tape lace: lace in which the pattern is made up of tape set in a background either of thread bars (brides) or net. Its quality depends much on whether the tape used lies flat and curves continuously (which can be achieved only ...
tape recording: method of magnetic sound recording using magnetic tape. See magnetic recording.
tapestry: woven decorative fabric, the design of which is built up in the course of weaving. Broadly, the name has been used for almost any heavy material, handwoven, machine woven, or even embroidered, used to cover furniture, walls, or floors or ...
tapeworm: any member of the invertebrate class Cestoda (phylum Platyhelminthes), a group of parasitic flatworms containing about 3,000 species. Tapeworms, which occur worldwide and range in size from about 1 mm (0.04 inch) to more than 15 m (50 feet), are ...
Tapies, Antoni: Catalan artist who is credited with introducing contemporary abstract painting into Spain. Beginning as a Surrealist, he developed into an abstract artist under the influence of French painting and achieved an international reputation.
Tapinocephalus: extinct genus of therapsids, or mammallike reptiles, found as fossils in Permian rocks of South Africa (the Permian Period occurred from 286 to 245 million years ago). The genus Tapinocephalus is representative of the Tapinocephaloidea, characterized by many herbivorous specializations. ...
Tapio: the Finnish god of the forest and ruler of the game therein. He was a personified form of the various forest spirits important to hunters dependent on the forest for their livelihood. Tapio, the personified forest, was sometimes depicted as ...
tapioca: a preparation of cassava-root starch used as a food, in bread or as a thickening agent in liquid foods, notably puddings but also soups and juicy pies.
tapir: any of four species of hoofed mammals, the only extant members of the family Tapiridae (order Perissodactyla), found in tropical forests of Malaysia and the New World. Heavy-bodied and rather short-legged, tapirs are 1.8 to 2.5 m (about 6 to ...
Tappa Hisar: Iranian archaeological site located near Damghan in northern Iran. Excavations made in 1931-32 by the University of Pennsylvania and in 1956 by the University of Tokyo demonstrated that the site was continuously inhabited from about 3900 to about 1900 BC. ...
Tappan, Arthur: American philanthropist who used much of his energy and his fortune in the struggle to end slavery.
Tapti River: river in central India, rising in the Gawilgarh Hills of the central Deccan Plateau in south-central Madhya Pradesh state. It flows westward between two spurs of the Satpura Range, across the Jalgaon Plateau in Maharashtra state, and through the plain ...
Taq-e Bostan: village in western Iran, just northeast of Kermanshah city. It is known for its rock carvings (bas-reliefs) of Sasanid origin (3rd to 7th century AD). The carvings, some of the finest and best-preserved examples of Persian sculpture under the Sasanians, ...
Taqi Khan, Mirza: prime minister of Iran in 1848-51, who initiated reforms that marked the effective beginning of the Westernization of his country.
taqiya: ("self-protection"), in Islam, the practice of concealing one's belief and foregoing ordinary religious duties when under threat of death or injury to oneself or one's fellow Muslims.
taqlid: ("covering with authority"), in Islamic law, the unquestioning acceptance of the legal decisions of another without knowing the basis of those decisions. There is a wide range of opinion about taqlid among different groups or schools of Muslims. Of the ...
taqsim: in Islamic music, free-form melodic improvisation, performed by solo voice or on a solo instrument, often a lute; or by the principal instruments of an orchestra playing in succession. The taqsim often forms the first movement of a suite (nawbah), ...
tar: (Iranian: "string"), long-necked lute descended from the tanbur of Sasanian Iran and known in a variety of forms throughout the Middle East and parts of Asia. Its name traditionally signified the number of strings employed-e.g., dutar ("two-strings"), setar ("three-strings"), and ...
tar sand: deposit of loose sand or partially consolidated sandstone that is saturated with highly viscous bitumen. Oil recovered from tar sands is commonly referred to as synthetic crude and is a potentially significant form of fossil fuel.
Tar-Baby: sticky tar doll, the central figure in black American folktales popularized in written literature by the American author Joel Chandler Harris. Harris' "Tar-Baby" (1879), one of the animal tales told by the character Uncle Remus, is but one example of ...
Tara: (Irish: "Place of Assembly"), low hill (about 507 feet [154 m]) in County Meath, Ireland, occupying an important place in Irish legend and history. The earliest local remains consist of a small passage grave (c. 2100 BC) known as Dumha ...
Tara: Buddhist saviour-goddess with numerous forms, widely popular in Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. She is the feminine counterpart of the bodhisattva ("Buddha-to-be") Avalokitesvara. According to popular belief, she came into existence from a tear of Avalokitesvara, which fell to the ground ...
Tara brooch: fine example of a Celtic ring brooch, found on the seashore at Bettystown, south of Drogheda, and now preserved in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. The Tara brooch, probably dating from the 8th century, is of white bronze and ...
Tara Singh: Sikh leader known chiefly for his advocacy of an autonomous Punjabi-speaking Sikh nation in the Punjab. He was a champion of Sikh rights against the dominant Hindus, Muslims, and British.
Taraba: state, eastern Nigeria. It was created in 1991 from the southwestern half of former Gongola state. Taraba is bordered on the north and northeast by Bauchi and Adamawa states, on the west and southwest by Plateau and Benue states, and ...
Tarafah: Arab poet, author of the longest of the seven odes in the celebrated collection of pre-Islamic poetry al-Mu'allaqat (see Mu'allaqat, al-). Some critics judge him to be the greatest of the pre-Islamic poets, if not the greatest Arab poet.
Tarahumara: Middle American Indians of southwestern Chihuahua state in northern Mexico. Their language, which belongs to the Sonoran division of the Uto-Aztecan family, is most closely related to Yaqui and Mayo. Culturally the Tarahumara show similarities to such neighbouring Uto-Aztecan peoples ...
Tarai: region of northern India and southern Nepal running parallel to the lower Himalayan ranges. A strip of undulating former marshland, it stretches from the Yamuna River (west) to the Brahmaputra River (east). At its northern edge are numerous springs forming ...
Tarakan Island: island in northern Kalimantan Timur provinsi (East Kalimantan province), northern Indonesia. It is situated in the eastern Celebes Sea, off the northeastern coast of Borneo. The island has a length of approximately 10 miles (16 km) and ...
Tarakanova, Yelizaveta Alekseyevna: adventuress and pretender to the Russian throne who claimed to be the daughter of the unmarried empress Elizabeth (reigned 1741-62) and Count Aleksey G. Razumovsky.
Taraki, Nur Mohammad: Afghan politician who was president and prime minister of Afghanistan from 1978 to 1979.
Taranaki: local government region, west North Island, New Zealand. It is centred on the Taranaki Peninsula and extends north to the Mokau River and south and east to include the Waitotara River. Its topography is marked by numerous stream valleys, including ...
Taranis: (Celtic: "Thunderer"), powerful Celtic deity that was one of three mentioned by the Roman poet Lucan in the 1st century AD; the other two were Esus ("Lord") and Teutates ("God of the People"). According to later commentators, Taranis' sacrificial victims, ...
tarantella: couple folk dance of Italy characterized by light, quick steps and teasing, flirtatious behaviour between partners; women dancers frequently carry tambourines. The music is in lively 68 time. Tarantellas for two couples are also danced. The tarantella's origin is connected ...
Taranto: city, capital of Taranto provincia, Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy. The city lies at the base of the Salentine Peninsula on the northern inlet (Mare Grande) of the Gulf of Taranto. The old part of the city occupies a small ...
Taranto, Gulf of: arm, about 85 mi (140 km) long and wide, of the Ionian Sea in southern Italy. Lying between the Capes Santa Maria di Leuca (northeast) and Colonne (southwest), it forms the hollow in front of the heel of the Italian ...
tarantula: any of numerous hairy and generally large spiders found in the southwestern United States, Mexico, and tropical America. Many tarantulas make burrows in soil and feed mainly at night on insects and occasionally small frogs, toads, and mice. In the ...
Taraori, Battles of: series of engagements that opened all of North India to Muslim control. The battles were fought between Mu'izz-ud-Din Muhammad of Ghur and Prthviraja III, the Cauhan (Cahamana), Rajput ruler of Ajmer and Delhi. The battlefield lay between Karnal, 70 miles ...
Tarapaca: northernmost region, Chile, bordering Peru and Bolivia on the north and east and fronting the Pacific Ocean on the west. Tarapaca was ceded to Chile by Peru after the War of the Pacific (1879-83) and was organized as a province ...
Tarasco: Indian people of northern Michoacan state in central Mexico. The area in which the Tarasco live is one of high volcanic plateaus and lakes; the climate is arid and cool. The Tarascan people are undergoing a slow process of assimilation ...
Tarascon: town, Bouches-du-Rhone departement, Provence-Alpes-Cote-d'Azur region, southeastern France, east of Nimes. Situated on the left bank of the Rhone opposite Beaucaire, the town is associated with a legendary monster, La Tarasque, which was said to have ravaged the region until it ...
Tarasov, Anatoly: Russian ice hockey coach whose innovations in Soviet hockey established the country as the dominant force in international competition. Known as the "father of Russian hockey," he guided the Soviet Union to 3 Olympic gold medals (1964, 1968, and 1972) ...
Tarasova, Alla Konstantinovna: outstanding actress of the Moscow Art Theatre, noted for her lifelike, naturalistic portrayals.
taravana syndrome: form of decompression sickness that is most frequently seen in pearl divers in Japan and the Polynesian islands. These skin divers acquire their pearls by making breath-holding dives down to depths as great as 165 feet (about 50 m). During ...
Tarawa: coral atoll of the Gilbert Islands and capital of Kiribati. It lies in the west-central Pacific Ocean, 2,800 miles (4,500 km) northeast of Australia and is the most populous atoll in the Gilberts. Tarawa consists of 15 islets, with a ...
Tarbela Dam: giant rock-fill dam on the Indus River, Pakistan. Built between 1968 and 1976, it has a volume of 138,600,000 cubic yards (106,000,000 cubic m). With a reservoir capacity of 11,098,000 acre-feet (13,690,000,000 cubic m), the dam is 469 feet (143 ...
Tarbell, Ida M.: investigative journalist, lecturer, and chronicler of American industry, best known for her classic The History of the Standard Oil Company (1904).