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Walker, Alice

(Encyclopedia) Walker, Alice, 1944–, African-American novelist and poet, b. Eatonon, Ga. The daughter of sharecroppers, she studied at Spelman College (1961–63) and Sarah Lawrence College (B.A., 1965…

Grandin, Temple

(Encyclopedia) Grandin, Temple, 1947–, American animal scientist and industrial designer, b. Boston, grad. Franklin Pierce College (B.A., 1970), Arizona State Univ. (M.S., 1975), Univ. of Illinois (…

Temple, the

(Encyclopedia) Temple, the, district of the City of London, England. The name refers to two of the four Inns of Court, the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple. The Temple was originally the English…

Brewer's: Familiar

A cat, dog, raven, or other dumb creature, petted by a “witch,” and supposed to be her demon in disguise. (See below.) Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer,…

Brewer's: Familiarity

Too much familiarity breeds contempt. Latin: Nimia familiaritas contemptum parit. French: La familiaritéengendre le méris. Italian: La famigliaritàfàdispregiamento. “E tribus optimis rebus…

rabbi

(Encyclopedia) rabbi [Heb.,=my master; my teacher], the title of a Jewish spiritual leader. The role of the rabbi has undergone a number of transformations. In the Talmudic period, rabbis were…

Brewer's: Familiar Spirits

Spirit slaves. From the Latin, famulus (an attendant). “Away with him! he has a familiar under his tongue.” —Shakespeare: 2 Henry VI., iv. 7. Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E.…

Benjamin

(Encyclopedia) Benjamin [Heb.,=son of fortune], younger son of Jacob and Rachel, eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. His mother, dying, named him BenoniBenjaminbĕnōˈnī [key] [Heb.,=…

obelisk

(Encyclopedia) obeliskobeliskŏbˈəlĭsk [key], slender four-sided tapering monument, usually hewn of a single great piece of stone, terminating in a pointed or pyramidal top. Among the ancient…

temple, edifice of worship

(Encyclopedia) temple, edifice or sometimes merely an enclosed area dedicated to the worship of a deity and the enshrinement of holy objects connected with such worship. The temple has been employed…