E=mc2
E=mc2, formula that relates mass (matter) and energy.
21st Century Webster's Family Encyclopedia - Erasistratus to Federalism
Erasistratus
Erasistratus (3rd century B.C.), Greek physician of the Alexandrian School of Medicine, credited with the foundation of physiology as a separate discipline.
Desiderius Erasmus
Erasmus, Desiderius (1466?–1536), Dutch Roman Catholic humanist and advocate of church and social reform.
Thomas Erastus
Erastus, Thomas (1524–83), Swiss theologian.
Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes (c.275–c.195 B.C.), Greek mathematician and astronomer.
Erbium
Erbium, chemical element, symbol Er; for physical constants see Periodic Table.
Ergot
Ergot, disease of grasses and cereals caused by a fungus of the genus Claviceps.
Ludwig Erhard
Erhard, Ludwig (1897–1977), West German economist and political leader.
Eric the Red
Eric the Red, 10th-century Norse explorer who founded the first colonies in Greenland c.985.
Erie
Erie (pop. 275,572), city in northwestern Pennsylvania, on Lake Erie.
Erie Canal
Erie Canal, artificial U.S. waterway completed 1825, connecting Buffalo on Lake Erie with Albany on the Hudson River, thus providing a route to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean.
Erik Homburger Erikson
Erikson, Erik Homburger (1902–94), German-born U.S. psychoanalyst who defined 8 stages, each characterized by a specific psychological conflict, in the development of the ego from infancy to old age (Childhood and Society, 1950).
Erin
Erin See: Ireland.
Eritrea
Eritrea, independent state in East Africa, bounded by the Red Sea, Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
Ermine
Ermine, term for any weasel that turns white in winter.
Max Ernst
Ernst, Max (1891–1976), German-born artist, leader of the dada and surrealism movements in Paris.
Eros
Eros, in Greek mythology, the god of sexual love.
Erosion
Erosion, gradual wearing away of the land by natural forces.
Samuel James Ervin Jr.
Ervin, Samuel James, Jr. (1896–1985), U.S. senator from North Carolina (1954–74).
Julius Erving
Erving, Julius (1950– ), U.S. basketball player.
Erysipelas
Erysipelas, contagious skin infection caused by streptococci bacteria, which generally enter through a small wound.
Erythema
Erythema, redness of the skin resulting from dilation of the capillaries of the skin to allow extra blood to flow.
Erythromycin
Erythromycin, antibiotic synthesized by the soil bacterium Streptomyces erythreus.
Esau
Esau, or Edom, in the Bible (book of Genesis), son of Isaac and Rebecca, elder twin brother of Jacob.
Escalator
Escalator, moving stairway used in public buildings to transport passengers from one level to another.
Escape velocity
Escape velocity, speed an object must reach in order to break free from the gravitational pull of a massive body, such as the earth, moon, or sun.
Escobedo v. Illinois
Escobedo v.
Escorial
Escorial, monastery and palace in central Spain, 26 mi (42 km) northwest of Madrid.
Esdraelon
Esdraelon, or plain of Jezreel or of Megiddo, plain in northern Israel, about 200 sq mi (520 sq km), stretching along the coast near Mt.
Esfahan
Esfahan See: Isfahan.
Levi Eshkol
Eshkol, Levi (1895–1969), Israeli political leader, one of the founders of the state, prime minister, 1963–69.
Eskimo
Eskimo, European name for the Inuit people, indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic regions of northeast Asia, North America, and Greenland.
Eskimo dog
Eskimo dog, large, wolflike Arctic dog, used in teams to draw sleds and for hunting.
Esophagus
Esophagus, thin muscular tube leading from the pharynx to the stomach.
ESP
ESP See: Extrasensory perception.
Esperanto
Esperanto, artificial language designed by Dr.
Espionage
Espionage, systematic secret gathering of information about the plans and activities of foreign governments or competing businesses.
Phil Esposito
Esposito, Phil (1942– ), Canadian hockey player.
Essay
Essay, literary composition in which the writer deals with a single topic or attempts to convert the reader to a point of view.
Essen
Essen (pop. 626,100), city in western Germany, on the Ruhr River.
Essene
Essene, member of an ascetic Jewish sect that flourished in Palestine around the time of the birth of Jesus.
Robert Devereux Essex d Earl of (2n)
Essex, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of (1567–1601), English courtier, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I.
Est
Estéban See: Estevanico.
Established Church
Established Church See: Church of England.
Estates-General
Estates-General, or States-General, French national assembly (first summoned in 1302) composed of representatives from the 3 “estates” or social classes: clergy, nobility, and commoners.
Esters
Esters, organic compounds formed by condensation of an acid (organic or inorganic) and an alcohol, water being eliminated.
Estevanico
Estevanico, or Estéban (1500?–39), explorer in colonial America.
Esther
Esther, book of the Old Testament.
Estivation
Estivation, dormant state entered into by some animals in hot, dry climates, to conserve moisture during the summer.
Estonia
Estonia (Republic of), independent country on the east coast of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Russia in the west, and Latvia in the south. The largest cities are Tallinn, the capital; Tartu; and Pärnu. A third of the land, which consists of plains and low plateaus, is forested. The climate is temperate. Estonians are ethnically and linguistically related to the Finns. The population largely c…
Estrogen
Estrogen, any of a group of female sex hormones that regulate the menstrual cycle and control the development of secondary sex characteristics.
Estrous cycle
Estrous cycle, in most female mammals, periodic readiness for mating, regulated by environmental signals and the release of hormones.
Etching
Etching, method of engraving in which acid is used to carve the lines into a metal plate; also, the print obtained from such a plate.
Ethane
Ethane, hydrocarbon (C2H6) of the paraffin series of chemical compounds.
Ether
Ether, or aether, in physics, hypothetical substance that was once believed essential for transmission of light waves through space.
Ether
Ether (C2H5)2O, flammable liquid that causes unconsciousness when inhaled.
Sir George Etherege
Etherege, Sir George (c. 1634–91), English dramatist, writer of restoration comedy, who influenced both William Congreve and William Wycherley.
Ethics
Ethics, branch of philosophy devoted to the consideration of the moral principles of human behavior and social organization.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, formerly Abyssinia, country on the eastern edge of Africa, bordered by Eritrea on the north, the Sudan on the west, Kenya and Somalia on the south, and Somalia and Djibouti on the east. Geographically, Ethiopia consists of two great plateaus, separated by part of the Great Rift Valley. The Ethiopian plateau, to the west of the Great Rift Valley, is the most fertile and most densely popul…
Ethnic group
Ethnic group, collection of individuals united by ties of culture and/or heredity who are conscious of forming a subgroup within society.
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism, belief that the characteristics of one's own culture or race are superior to those of other groups or races.
Ethnography
Ethnography, branch of anthropology concerned with the investigation of contemporary culture, particularly treating ethnic groups one by one.
Ethology
Ethology, branch of zoology dealing with animal behavior.
Ethyl alcohol
Ethyl alcohol See: Alcohol.
Ethylene
Ethylene (C2H4), colorless, flammable organic gas.
Etiquette
Etiquette, formal system of rules to guide human social behavior.
Etruria
Etruria See: Etruscan.
Etruscan
Etruscan, name for the people whose civilization flourished in Italy before the rise of Rome.
Etymology
Etymology, study of the origin and evolution of words.
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus, any of a genus (Eucalyptus) of tall evergreen trees of the myrtle family, indigenous to Australia.
Euclid
Euclid (c.300 B.C.), Greek mathematician of Alexandria whose major work, the Elements, still constitutes a basis of many courses in geometry.
Eudoxus of Cnidus
Eudoxus of Cnidus (400–350 B.C.), Greek mathematician and astronomer who proposed a system of homocentric crystal spheres to explain the movements of the planets; this system was adopted in Aristotle's cosmology.
Eugénie
Eugénie (Marie de Montijo; 1826–1920), empress of the French 1853–70 as wife of Napoleon III.
Eugene
Eugene (pop. 282,912), second-largest city of Oregon, seat of Lane County, in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon.
Eugenics
Eugenics, study of techniques to improve the genetic endowment of human populations.
Eugenius III
Eugenius III (d. 1153), pope 1145–53, promoter of the Second Crusade.
Eugenius IV
Eugenius IV (1383–1447), pope (1431–47).
Euglena
Euglena, any of several microscopic, one-celled organisms found mainly in stagnant water.
Eulachon
Eulachon, saltwater fish (Thaleichthys pacificus) of the smelt family, native to the North Pacific.
Till Eulenspiegel
Eulenspiegel, Till, Brunswick trickster hero of a group of German tales originally published 1515.
Leonhard Euler
Euler, Leonhard (1707–83), Swiss mathematician who worked in St.
Euphrates River
Euphrates River, Western Asia's longest river, over 2,200 mi (3,540 km).
Euripides
Euripides (c.480–406 B.C.), ancient Greek playwright, writer of tragedies.
Europa
Europa, in Greek mythology, daughter of King Agenor of Phoenicia.
Europe
Europe, world's second smallest continent in area, second largest in population (after Asia). Geographically, Europe is a peninsula of the Asian landmass. Traditionally, the division between Europe and Asia is considered to be the Ural Mountains, which run north-south through Russia, and the Ural River, which flows into the Caspian Sea. On the south, Europe is divided from Asia by the Cauca…
European Common Market
European Common Market See: European Community.
European Community
European Community, organization of Western European nations formed to regulate trade, agriculture, labor, transportation, and industrial standards. The European Community was formed in 1967 by consolidating the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community (the Common Market), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). Membership includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, F…
European Economic Community
European Economic Community See: Common Market, European.
European Free Trade Association
European Free Trade Association (EFTA), customs union and trading group formed in 1960 by Austria, Great Britain, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, and Sweden, to promote free trade between members, other countries followed.
European Monetary System
European Monetary System (EMS), Western European organization established (1979) to link currencies of its members for the purpose of stabilizing exchange rates and offsetting inflation.
European Organization for Nuclear Research
European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), research center for particle physics (the study of subatomic particles), funded by 14 European members and located near Geneva, Switzerland.
European Recovery Program
European Recovery Program See: Marshall Plan.
European Space Agency
European Space Agency (ESA), research and exploration agency for nations of Western Europe, formed 1975 by the merger of the European Launcher Development Organization and the European Space Research Organization.
Europium
Europium, chemical element, symbol Eu; for physical constants see Periodic Table.
Eurydice
Eurydice, in Greek mythology, nymph who married the musician Orpheus but died on her wedding day.
Eustachian tubes
Eustachian tubes, narrow tubes running from the middle ear to the back of the throat.
Euthanasia
Euthanasia, practice of hastening or causing the death of a person suffering from an incurable disease.
Eutrophication
Eutrophication, increasing concentration of plant nutrients and fertilizers in lakes and estuaries, partly by natural drainage and partly by pollution.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, U.S. religious denomination formed in 1988 by the merger of the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism, Protestant theological movement that emphasizes personal conversion and biblical authority.
Evangeline
Evangeline (1847), long narrative poem by U.S. poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Mary Ann Evans
Evans, Mary Ann See: Eliot, George.
Sir Arthur John Evans
Evans, Sir Arthur John (1851–1941), English archeologist famous for his discovery of the Minoan civilization from excavations at Knossos in Crete.
Walker Evans
Evans, Walker (1903–75), U.S. photographer best known for documenting the effects of the Depression in the southern United States.
Evaporation
Evaporation, escape of molecules from the surface of a liquid such that they attain a gaseous state.
Eve
Eve See: Adam and Eve.
John Evelyn
Evelyn, John (1620–1706), English writer and humanist whose Diary (1818) is one of the most important historical sources for English life in the 17th century.
Evening primrose
Evening primrose, any of various wildflowers of family Onagraceae, native to North America.
Evening star
Evening star, general term for a bright planet (most often Venus) that appears in the western sky at sunset or in the early evening.
Edward Everett
Everett, Edward (1794–1865), U.S. statesman and orator.
Everglades
Everglades, swampy region of southern Florida covering an area of about 5,000 sq mi (12,950 sq km), extending from Lake Okeechobee in the north to the southern tip of the Florida peninsula.
Evergreen
Evergreen, plant that retains its leaves the year round; the leaves are continually shed and replaced.
Evers
Evers, name of 2 African-American civil rights leaders.
Chris(tine) Evert
Evert, Chris(tine) (1954– ), U.S. tennis player.
Evidence
Evidence, in law, that which is advanced by parties to a legal dispute to prove, or contribute to the proof of, their case.
Evolution
Evolution, process by which organisms have changed and species have arisen and disappeared since the origin of life. The formulation of the theory of evolution in its modern form is credited to Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, 19th-century British scientists who proposed that the central mechanism of evolution was natural selection. In essence, this theory states that life forms with cert…
Ewe
Ewe See: Sheep.
Ex Parte Milligan
Ex Parte Milligan, U.S.
Ex post facto
Ex post facto, in law, retroactive legislation, most commonly to make illegal actions that were legal when committed.
Examinations
Examinations See: College entrance examination; Testing.
Excalibur
Excalibur, in Arthurian legend, the name of King Arthur's sword.
Excess-profits tax
Excess-profits tax, tax levied on profits above a legislated level, generally enacted during wars to raise state revenue at a time when some businesses make “windfall profits.” U.S. and British corporations were subject to such taxes during and after World War I (1917–21), and during World War II (1940–45).
Exchange rate
Exchange rate, rate at which one country's currency is valued in terms of another's.
Excommunication
Excommunication, expulsion of a person from a religious group.
Excretion
Excretion, or elimination, removal of waste material from the body, including the undigested residue of food and the waste products of metabolism.
Executive
Executive, the part of government that implements laws; also, the head of that part.
Executor
Executor, person appointed to administer the estate of a deceased person.
Exeter
Exeter (pop. 102,000), port city on the Exe River and capital of Devonshire, England.
Exile
Exile, expulsion or voluntary prolonged absence from one's homeland.
Eximbank
Eximbank See: Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Existentialism
Existentialism, 20th-century philosophical current that stresses personal responsibility and the relation of the individual to the universe or to God.
Exobiology
Exobiology, or xenobiology, study of possible life forms elsewhere than on earth.
Exocrine gland
Exocrine gland See: Gland.
Exodus
Exodus, second book of the Old Testament and of the Torah (Pentateuch).
Exorcism
Exorcism, ritual expulsion or casting out of malignant spirits and demons by incantations, prayer, and ceremonies.
Expansion
Expansion, in physics, increase in the volume of a substance due to a rise in temperature.
Exploration
Exploration, discovery and surveying of unknown parts of the world and the universe.
Explosive
Explosive, substance that decomposes suddenly, but controllably, forming gas and releasing heat in the process.
Export-Import Bank of the United States
Export-Import Bank of the United States (Eximbank), U.S. government agency set up in 1934 to assist foreign exports.
Exports and imports
Exports and imports, goods shipped out of or into a country.
Expressionism
Expressionism, early 20th-century movement in art and literature that held that art should be the expression of subjective feelings and emotions.
Extension program
Extension program, usually a non-degree educational program offered by a college or university, generally off campus.
Extinct species
Extinct species, in biology, species of which no living individuals remain.
Extract
Extract, concentrated essence of plant or animal material, used as food flavoring, in drugs, and in cosmetics.
Extraction
Extraction, selective removal of a substance or substances from a mixture by use of carefully selected solvents.
Extradition
Extradition, surrendering of a person wanted for trial of a criminal offense by 1 state or country to another.
Extrasensory perception
Extrasensory perception (ESP), communication or perception without use of sight, hearing, taste, touch, or smell.
Extraterrestrial intelligence
Extraterrestrial intelligence, intelligent life originating outside the earth and its atmosphere.
Extraterritoriality
Extraterritoriality, privilege granted by a country to resident foreign nationals, allowing them to remain under the jurisdiction of the laws of their own country only.
Extrovert
Extrovert, term used by Swiss psychiatrist Carl G.
Extrusion
Extrusion, process for shaping materials—especially metals, but also such nonmetals as rubber, plastic, and glass—by forcing them through a small orifice or die.
Exxon Corporation
Exxon Corporation, one of the world's largest petroleum company, founded 1882, by the Rockefeller family, as the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.
Jan Van Eyck
Eyck, Jan Van See: Van Eyck, Jan.
Eye
Eye, organ of vision possessed by all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. Eyes vary widely in complexity. Many invertebrates have simple cup-shaped eyes containing light-sensitive cells that merely perceive the intensity of light. Insects and crustaceans have compound eyes comprising many hundreds of units that build up a picture composed of minute light and dark spots like a newspaper photo…
Eye bank
Eye bank, place where corneas removed from newly dead persons are stored until needed for transplantation to restore the sight of those with corneal defects.
Eyeglasses
Eyeglasses See: Glasses.
Book of Ezekiel
Ezekiel, Book of, book of the Old Testament of the Bible, named after the early 6th-century B.C.
Book of Ezra
Ezra, Book of, book of the Old Testament of the Bible, named for the 5th-century B.C.
F
F, sixth letter in the English alphabet.
Eberhard Faber
Faber, Eberhard (1822–79), founder of the first large-scale pencil factory in the United States.
Peter Carl Fabergé
Fabergé, Peter Carl (1846–1920), Russian goldsmith famous for the jewelry he made for the Russian tsars and other royalty, especially the jeweled and enameled Easter eggs.
Fabian Society
Fabian Society, English society for the propagation of socialism.
Fable
Fable, short story that usually teaches a moral.
Jean Henri Casimir Fabre
Fabre, Jean Henri Casimir (1823–1915), French entomologist who used direct observations of insects in their natural environments in his pioneering researches into insect instinct and behavior.
Face fly
Face fly (Musca autumnalis), insect that feeds on the body fluids of livestock.
Facsimile
Facsimile, precise reproduction of an original document; in modern usage, a reproduction transmitted over telephone lines.
Factor
Factor, in mathematics, whole number (integer) that may be divided into another number a whole number of times without remainder.
Faeroe Islands
Faeroe Islands, group of 18 Danish islands (540 sq mi/1,399 km) in the North Atlantic, northwest of the Shetland Islands and southeast of Iceland.
Fahd ibn Abdul Aziz
Fahd ibn Abdul Aziz (1922– ), king of Saudi Arabia (1982– ).
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit, Gabriel Daniel (1686–1736), German-born Dutch physicist and instrument maker.
Fair Deal
Fair Deal, domestic program proposed by President Truman (1945–48), covering civil rights, education, health services, agriculture, and employment.
Fair housing laws
Fair housing laws See: Open housing.
Fair Labor Standards Act
Fair Labor Standards Act, U.S. law passed in 1938 under the Roosevelt administration's New Deal to guarantee most workers a minimum wage and a 44-hr maximum working week.
Fair-trade laws
Fair-trade laws, laws developed for the purpose of preventing a particular business from selling goods at extremely low prices in an attempt to abolish competition.
Fairbanks
Fairbanks (pop. 30,843), second largest city in Alaska, located in central Alaska in the Yukon Valley.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Fairbanks, Douglas, Jr. (1909– ), U.S. movie actor and the son of the silent film star Douglas Fairbanks.
Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Fairbanks, Douglas, Sr. (1883–1939), U.S. film actor famous for his romantic and swashbuckling roles in films such as Robin Hood (1922) and The Black Pirate (1926).
David Grandison Fairchild
Fairchild, David Grandison (1869–1954), U.S. botanist who introduced many useful plants into the United States.
Sherman Mills Fairchild
Fairchild, Sherman Mills (1896–1971), U.S. inventor of aerial mapping photography.
Fairy tale
Fairy tale, tale involving fantastic events and characters, not necessarily fairies.
Faisal
Faisal, or Feisal, name of 2 kings of Iraq.
Faisal
Faisal, or Feisal (Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz al Faisal al Saud; 1905–75), king of Saudi Arabia from 1964, when his brother, King Saud, was forced to abdicate.
Faith
Faith See: Religion.
Falange Española
Falange Española, recognized as the only legal political party in Spain under dictator Francisco Franco.
Falcon
Falcon, name generally applied to about 60 species of hawk, though the true falcons of the family Falconidae number about 35 species.
Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands, or Islas Malvinas, self-governing British colony, also claimed by Argentina, consisting of 200 islands totaling 4,700 sq mi (12,200 sq km) in the South Atlantic about 480 mi (770 km) northeast of Cape Horn.
Fall River
Fall River (pop. 157,272), city in southeastern Massachusetts, situated on Mount Hope Bay, at the mouth of the Taunton River.
Manuel de Falla
Falla, Manuel de (1876–1946), Spanish composer.
Law of Falling bodies
Falling bodies, Law of, group of rules that tell what an object does when it falls freely to the ground.
Fallout
Fallout, radioactive debris produced by the explosion of nuclear weapons.
Fallout shelter
Fallout shelter, building or underground structure whose purpose is to protect people from the effects of fallout, or radiation.
Family planning
Family planning See: Birth control; Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Famine
Famine, acute food shortage resulting in widespread starvation.
Fan
Fan, instrument that excites a current of air by the agitation of abroad surface, vanes, or disks.
Peter Faneuil
Faneuil, Peter (1700–43), wealthy Boston merchant.
Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae See: Federal National Mortgage Association.
Frantz Omar Fanon
Fanon, Frantz Omar (1925–61), French black psychoanalyst and social philosopher.
Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-Latour
Fantin-Latour, Ignace Henri Jean Théodore (1836–1904), French painter known for his flower paintings, his illustrations of the works of Robert Wagner and Louis-Hector Berlioz, and his group portraits of artists, such as Homage to Delacroix (1864) and A Studio at Batignolles (1870).
FAO
FAO See: Food and Agriculture Organization.
Far East
Far East, term often used for eastern Asia, comprising China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and eastern Siberia in the Russian Federation.
Farad
Farad (F), unit of electrical capacitance.
Michael Faraday
Faraday, Michael (1791–1867), English chemist and physicist, pupil and successor of H. Davy at the Royal Institution. He discovered benzene (1825), first demonstrated electromagnetic induction and invented the dynamo (1831), and, with his concept of magnetic lines of force, laid the foundations of classical field theory later built upon by J. Clerk Maxwell. He discovered the laws of electro…
Farce
Farce, comedy based on exaggeration and broad visual humor.
Fargo
Fargo (pop. 153,295), largest city in North Dakota and seat of Cass County.
William George Fargo
Fargo, William George (1818–81), co-founder of Wells and Company (later Wells-Fargo), the pioneer express service, in 1844.
Farm Credit System
Farm Credit System, network of cooperatively owned banks regulated by the Farm Credit Administration (FCA).
Farm and farming
Farm and farming, setting and activity of the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock.
Farmer
Farmer See: Farm and farming.
James Leonard Farmer
Farmer, James Leonard (1920– ), U.S. civil rights leader.
Farmer-Labor Party
Farmer-Labor Party, minor U.S. political party founded 1919 to promote the interests of small farmers and city workers.
Farmers Home Administration
Farmers Home Administration, U.S.
Farming
Farming See: Agriculture; Farm and farming.
Philo Taylor Farnsworth
Farnsworth, Philo Taylor (1906–71), U.S. radio research engineer who pioneered television technology.
Farouk I
Farouk I See: Faruk I.
George Farquhar
Farquhar, George (1678–1707), English dramatist.
David Glasgow Farragut
Farragut, David Glasgow (1801–70), U.S. admiral and Civil War hero.
James Thomas Farrell
Farrell, James Thomas (1904–79), U.S. writer.
Farsightedness
Farsightedness, or hyperopia, defect of vision in which light entering the eye from nearby objects comes to a focus behind the retina instead of on it.
Faruk I
Faruk I, or Farouk I (1920–65), king of Egypt (1936–52).
Fascism
Fascism, originally, political system of Italy under Benito Mussolini (1922–45); more broadly, authoritarian and antidemocratic political philosophy placing the state above the individual, and stressing absolute obedience to a glorified leader.
Fat
Fat, compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen found in certain parts of the body, an important constituent of diet. Fat is the most concentrated source of food energy, supplying 9 calories per gram; protein and carbohydrate, the other 2 sources of food energy, supply only 4 calories per gram. Fats are the chief sources of essential fatty acids (EFAs), as well as carriers of vitamins A, D, E, and K…
Fates
Fates, in Greek and Roman mythology, goddesses of destiny, called Moirai by the Greeks and Parcae by the Romans.
Father of the Constitution
Father of the Constitution See: Madison, James.
Father Divine
Father Divine See: Divine, Father.
Father of Medicine
Father of Medicine See: Hippocrates.
Fathometer
Fathometer, underwater device used on ships to measure the depth of water.
Fatimids
Fatimids, Muslim dynasty that ruled a North African empire from its conquest of Egypt in A.D. 969 until 1171.
William Faulkner
Faulkner, William (1897–1962), U.S. writer, known for his vivid characterization and complex, convoluted style in novels and short stories set in fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on the area of his hometown, Oxford, Miss.
Fault
Fault, fracture in the earth's crust along which there has been relative movement and displacement of the rocks on each side.
Faun
Faun, in Roman mythology, woodland spirit, usually portrayed as having a human upper body and goat legs.
Gabriel Urbain Fauré
Fauré, Gabriel Urbain (1845–1924), French composer.
Faust
Faust, legendary German enchanter, based on a 16th-century charlatan, who sold his soul to the devil Mephistopheles for knowledge and pleasure.
Fauves
Fauves (French, “wild beasts”), group of French painters whose style emphasized intense color, often applied directly from the paint tubes, and vigorous brush strokes.
Guy Fawkes
Fawkes, Guy (1570–1606), Roman Catholic Englishman, hired by the Gunpowder Plot conspirators as an explosives expert while he was serving in the Spanish army.
Feather
Feather, covering of a bird's body, made up of a central shaft, with the hollow quill at the tip, and the vane on each side, consisting of rows of fine threads called barbs, which are held together by hooked barbules to form a web.
Feather star
Feather star See: Sea lily.
Febold Feboldson
Febold Feboldson, Swedish-American folk hero, popular in tall tales of the Great Plains.
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), agency of the U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), investigative branch of the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent U.S. agency that regulates communication by radio, television, wire and cable.
Federal court
Federal court See: Court; United States, government of the.
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), U.S.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), U.S. agency that insures bank deposits in all federal reserve system banks Federal Reserve System.
Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission, independent U.S. government agency that enforces the Federal Election Campaign Act, which governs campaign spending for election to federal offices.
Federal government
Federal government See: Federalism.
Federal Hall
Federal Hall, building in Lower Manhattan, New York City, that served as first capitol of the United States under the Constitution.
Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), U.S.
Federal Home Loan Bank Board
Federal Home Loan Bank Board, independent U.S. federal agency, made up of 3 presidential appointees, that supervised and regulated savings and loans associations between 1932 and 1990.
Federal Housing Administration
Federal Housing Administration (FHA), U.S. government agency created to bolster lender confidence in mortgage loans and increase housing demand and construction.
Federalism
Federalism, system of government in which states form a union by granting a central government supreme power in common or national affairs, while retaining their independent existence and control over local affairs.