Francis Rákóczy II
Rákóczy, Francis II (1676–1735), prince of Transylvania who led a Hungarian rising against the Habsburg Empire.
21st Century Webster's Family Encyclopedia - Raft to Respiratory distress syndrome
Raft
Raft, simple platform, usually square or rectangular, that floats on water.
Rafting
Rafting, water recreation that gained popularity in the 1960s.
Ragtime
Ragtime, style of piano playing in which the left hand provides harmony and a firm beat, while the right hand plays the melody, usually syncopated.
Ragweed
Ragweed, or hogweed, composite weedy herb (genus Ambrosia) with inconspicuous flower heads.
Rail
Rail, family of marsh birds, including gallinules, coots or mud hens, and rails proper.
Railroad
Railroad, land transportation system in which cars with flanged steel wheels run on tracks of two parallel steel rails. Railroads are economical in their use of energy because the rolling friction of wheel on rail is very low; however, costs of maintenance are high, so high traffic volume is needed. Costs, rising competition and overmanning led to the closure of many minor lines in the United Stat…
electric Railroad
Railroad, electric See: Electric railroad.
model Railroad
Railroad, model, hobby in which a miniature railroad system is developed.
Railway brotherhoods
Railway brotherhoods, unions for railroad workers in the United States and Canada.
Railway Labor Act
Railway Labor Act, legislation passed by the U.S.
Rain
Rain, water drops falling through the atmosphere, the liquid form of precipitation. Raindrops range in size up to 0.16 in (4 mm) in diameter; if they are smaller than 0.02 in (0.5 mm), the rain is called drizzle. The quantity of rainfall is measured by a rain gauge, an open-top vessel that collects the rain, calibrated in inches or millimeters and so giving a reading independent of the area on whi…
Rain dance
Rain dance, ritual Native American dance ceremony performed to induce rain.
Rain forest
Rain forest See: Tropical rain forest.
Rain gauge
Rain gauge, instrument that measures accumulated rainfall in a specific location during a particular period.
Rain tree
Rain tree, or monkeypod tree (Pithecellobium saman), shade tree found in tropical climates of the Americas.
Rainbow
Rainbow, arch of concentric spectrally-colored rings seen in the sky by an observer looking at rain, mist, or spray with his or her back to the sun.
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Rainbow Bridge National Monument, largest and one of the most perfectly arched natural bridges in the world, situated slightly north of the Arizona-Utah border in Utah's Escalante Desert.
Rainier III
Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand de Grimaldi; 1923– ), prince of Monaco since 1949.
Rainmaking
Rainmaking, method by which cloud precipitation is increased.
Rainy Lake
Rainy Lake, island-studded lake on the U.S.-Canadian border, between Minnesota and Ontario, located 125 mi (201 km) north of Duluth.
Raisin
Raisin, dried grape.
Raja
Raja, or Rajah (from Sanskrit rjan, “king”), Indian or Malay prince (extended to other men of rank during British rule).
Rajputs
Rajputs (Sanskrit, “kings' sons”), military and landowning caste mostly of the Rajasthan (now Rajputana) region, India.
Rake
Rake, tool with large teeth that gathers hay or leaves.
Raleigh
Raleigh (pop. 150,255), capital of North Carolina and seat of Wake County.
or Ralegh Raleigh Sir Walter
Raleigh, or Ralegh, Sir Walter (1554?–1618), English adventurer and poet, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I.
Ram
Ram See: Battering ram; Sheep.
Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836–86), Indian saint whose teachings, now carried all over the world by the Ramakrishna Mission (founded in Calcutta in 1897), emphasize the unity of all religions and place equal value on social service, worship, and meditation.
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman
Raman, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata (1888–1970), Indian physicist awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in physics for his discovery of the Raman effect: When molecules are exposed to a beam of infrared radiation, light scattered by the molecules contains frequencies that differ from that of the beam by amounts characteristic of the molecules.
Ramapithecus
Ramapithecus, prehistoric ape.
Ramayana
Ramayana, major Hindu epic poem, composed in Sanskrit in about the 3rd century B.C., concerning the war waged by the legendary hero Rama against Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka.
Jean Philippe Rameau
Rameau, Jean Philippe (1683–1764), French composer and one of the founders of modern harmonic theory.
Rameses II
Rameses II See: Ramses II.
Ramie
Ramie (Boehmeria nivea), perennial plant of the nettle family, grown for its fiber.
Ramp
Ramp, or wild leek (Allium tricoccum), wild plant considered a member of either the amaryllis or lily family.
Jean-Pierre Rampal
Rampal, Jean-Pierre (1922– ), French flutist.
Sir William Ramsay
Ramsay, Sir William (1852–1916), British chemist awarded the 1904 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his discovery of helium, codiscovery (with Lord Rayleigh) of argon, and codiscovery (with Morris Travers) of krypton, neon, and xenon.
Ramses II
Ramses II (c.1304–1237 B.C.), called “the Great,” Egyptian pharaoh, 4th king of the 19th dynasty, who built hundreds of temples and monuments, probably including Abu Simbel and the columned hall at Karnak.
Ranching
Ranching, breeding and raising usually of cattle or sheep on large tracts of land; in California also the name for farms smaller than 10 acres.
Ayn Rand
Rand, Ayn (1905–82), U.S. writer.
Randolph
Randolph, name of a prominent Virginia family. William Randolph (1651?–1711) was attorney general for Virginia (1694–98). The post was also held by his son Sir John Randolph (1693?–1737) and his grandson Peyton Randolph (1721?–75), who was also president of the 1st Continental Congress. Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753–1813), a nephew of Peyton, became attorney gen…
Randolph Air Force Base
Randolph Air Force Base, center for recruiting, assigning, and training of personnel for the United States Air Force; Air Training Command headquarters.
Edward Randolph
Randolph, Edward (1632?–1703), British colonial agent whose reports led to the Massachusetts charter being revoked in 1684.
A(sa) Philip Randolph
Randolph, A(sa) Philip (1889–1979), U.S.
Range
Range, or stove, appliance that creates heat for cooking and area warming.
Range finder
Range finder, instrument used to ascertain the distance of an object from the observer.
Rangoon
Rangoon See: Yangon.
Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh (1780–1839), ruler of India who united many Sikhs in a great kingdom.
military Rank
Rank, military, designation of position in the military service.
Otto Rank
Rank, Otto (1884–1939), Austrian psychoanalyst and pupil of Sigmund Freud, best known for his suggestion that the trauma of birth is the basis of later anxiety neurosis and for applying psychoanalysis to artistic creativity.
Leopold von Ranke
Ranke, Leopold von (1795–1886), German historian, one of the founders of modern historical research methodology.
Jeannette Rankin
Rankin, Jeannette (1880–1973), pacifist, feminist, social reformer, and first woman elected to the U.S.
John Crowe Ransom
Ransom, John Crowe (1888–1974), U.S. poet and proponent of the New Criticism, which emphasized textual, rather than social or moral, analysis.
Rape
Rape, crime of forced sexual intercourse without the consent of the subject, who may be male or female.
Rape
Rape, flowering plant in the mustard family.
Raphael
Raphael (Raffaello Santi or Sanzio; 1483–1520), Italian High Renaissance painter and architect.
Rapid City
Rapid City (pop. 81,343), second-largest city in South Dakota, situated on Rapid Creek near the Black Hills.
Rapid Deployment Force
Rapid Deployment Force, special U.S. military unit trained to act quickly upon command.
Rappahannock River
Rappahannock River, river flowing 212 mi (341 km) southeast from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to Chesapeake Bay.
Rare earth
Rare earth, name for the elements scandium and yttrium and the lanthanide series, Group IIIB of the Periodic Table, occurring throughout nature as monazite and other ores.
Ras Tafari
Ras Tafari See: Rastafarians; Haile Selassie.
Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen
Rasmussen, Knud Johan Victor (1879–1933), Danish explorer and ethnologist.
Raspberry
Raspberry, fruit-bearing bushes (genus Rubus), including some 200 species.
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin
Rasputin, Grigori Yefimovich (1872–1916), Russian mystic (the “mad monk”) who gained influence over the Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna after supposedly curing her son's hemophilia in 1905.
Rastafarians
Rastafarians, world-wide religious group founded in Jamaica in the 1920s.
Rat
Rat, name for numerous species of rodents belonging to many different families, largely Muridae and Cricetidae.
Ratchet
Ratchet, toothed wheel that operates with a catch, or pawl, so as to rotate in only one direction.
Rate of exchange
Rate of exchange See: Exchange rate.
Ratel
Ratel, or honey badger, carnivorous nocturnal African mammal (genus Mellivora) with distinctive grayish back and black underparts.
Rationalism
Rationalism, philosophical doctrine that reality has a logical structure accessible to deductive reasoning and proof.
Rationing
Rationing, method by which distribution of food and other important products are controlled.
Rattan
Rattan, stems from any of 200 species of climbing palm of the genus Calamus, family Palmaceae.
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnake, any of two genera (Crotalus and Sistrurus) of pit vipers of the Americas, referring to a rattle, composed of successive pieces of sloughed-off dead skin, at the end of the tail.
Friedrich Ratzel
Ratzel, Friedrich (1844–1904), German geographer.
Robert Rauschenberg
Rauschenberg, Robert (1925– ), U.S. artist, an initiator of the Pop Art of the 1960s.
Walter Rauschenbusch
Rauschenbusch, Walter (1861–1918), U.S.
Rauwolfia serpentina
Rauwolfia serpentina See: Reserpine.
Maurice Ravel
Ravel, Maurice (1875–1937), French composer, known for his adventurous harmonic style and the combination of delicacy and power in such orchestral works as Rhapsodie Espagnole (1908) and Bolero (1928), and the ballets Daphnis and Chloé (1912) and La Valse (1920).
Raven
Raven, largest member of the crow family, with a wedge-shaped tail.
Ravenna
Ravenna (pop. 136,100), city in northeastern region of Italy, famous for its superb mosaics, notably in the 5th-century mausoleum of Galla Placidia and 6th-century churches (notably San Vitale and Sant'Apollinare Nuovo).
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan (1896–1953), U.S. novelist.
Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson
Rawlinson, Sir Henry Creswicke (1810–95), British soldier and archeologist who deciphered the cuneiform inscriptions of King Darius I of Persia.
Ray
Ray, any of a group of more than 400 species of flat-bodied marine fish (order Rajiformes) with a boneless skeleton made from a tough, elastic substance called cartilage.
John Ray
Ray, John (1627–1705), English naturalist, who, with Francis Willughby (1635–72), made important contributions to taxonomy, especially in A General History of Plants (1686–1704).
Man Ray
Ray, Man (1890–1976), U.S. abstract artist and photographer, a founder of the Dada movement.
Satyajit Ray
Ray, Satyajit (1921–92), Indian film director.
Sam Rayburn
Rayburn, Sam (1882–1961), longest-serving U.S.
John William Strutt Rayleigh d Baron (3r)
Rayleigh, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron (1842–1919), English physicist awarded the 1904 Nobel Prize in physics for his measurements of the density of the atmosphere and its component gases, work that led to his isolation (with William Ramsay) of argon.
Henry Jarvis Raymond
Raymond, Henry Jarvis (1820–69), co-founder and editor of the New York Times from 1851 who took an active part in forming the Republican Party.
Rayon
Rayon, synthetic cottonlike fiber with a sheen.
Razor
Razor, sharp-edged instrument used to shave hair from the skin.
RCMP
RCMP See: Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
RDX
RDX, or Research Department Explosive (C3H6O6N6), powerful explosive used in bombs.
Re
Re, or Ra, in Egyptian mythology, the sun god.
chemical Reaction
Reaction, chemical See: Chemical reaction.
nuclear Reactor
Reactor, nuclear See: Nuclear reactor.
George Read
Read, George (1733–98), American Revolutionary leader.
Reading
Reading, process of assimilating language in the written form.
Reading
Reading (pop. 336,523), city on the Schuylkill River in southeast Pennsylvania.
Ronald Wilson Reagan
Reagan, Ronald Wilson (1911– ), 40th president of the United States. Reagan's administration strengthened the U.S. military presence in Europe, increased support for anti-Communist forces in Central America, and signed a nuclear-arms-reduction treaty with the Soviet Union. It also made large cuts in federal income taxes while sharply reducing spending on domestic programs. Although R…
Real estate
Real estate, term used to describe land and that which is attached to it, including buildings, trees, and underground resources, such as minerals or water.
Realism
Realism, in art and literature, the faithful imitation of real life; more specifically, the artistic movement which started in France c.1850 in reaction to the idealized representations of romanticism and neoclassicism, with a social dimension derived from scientific progress and the revolutions of 1848.
Reaper
Reaper, machine for harvesting grain.
Reapportionment
Reapportionment See: Apportionment, legislative.
Reasoning
Reasoning See: Logic.
Rebecca
Rebecca See: Isaac.
Rebellion of (1837–1838)
Rebellion of 1837–1838, 2 unsuccessful and parallel uprisings against British colonial rule in Canada, prompted by an economic depression and desire for local self-government.
Recall
Recall See: Inititive, referendum, and recall.
Receiver
Receiver, in law, person, bank, or trust company appointed by a court and paid a fee to take charge of a company or a person's assets, most frequently in cases of bankruptcy.
Recession
Recession, extended period of economic decline. In the United States, a recession is defined as a drop in the gross national product (GNP) over 2 consecutive quarterly periods. During recessions, business activities such as buying, selling, and overall productivity decline, causing increases in unemployment and unpredictable fluctuations in stock markets. Until the 1970s, recessions caused prices …
Recife
Recife (pop. 1,340,000), capital of Pernambuco, state in northeastern Brazil.
Reciprocal trade agreement
Reciprocal trade agreement, mutual tariff reduction pact enacted between 2 or more nations. Such agreements began in response to the trend toward protectionism that prevailed throughout most of the 19th century, in which steadily increasing tariffs on imported goods hampered international trade. Bilateral trade agreements were worked out in the early 20th century, when 2 nations consented to lower…
Bureau of Reclamation
Reclamation, Bureau of, agency of the Department of the Interior created to administer the Reclamation Act of 1902 for reclaiming arid land by irrigation in the 16 western states.
Reconstruction
Reconstruction, period (1865–77) when Americans tried to rebuild a stable Union after the Civil War. The deadlock inherited by President Andrew Johnson on Abraham Lincoln's death, over who should control Reconstruction, hardened with increasing congressional hostility toward restoring the South to its old position. Republicans wanted to press home the Union victory by following the 1…
Record player
Record player See: Phonograph.
Recorder
Recorder, wind instrument related to the flute but held vertically, with a mouthpiece that channels the airstream and without keys.
Recording industry
Recording industry, group of businesses that produce and sell sound recordings.
Recreation
Recreation, leisure activities that people enjoy.
Recreational vehicle (RV)
Recreational vehicle (RV), temporary living quarters on wheels, used for traveling or camping.
Rectangle
Rectangle, 4-sided plane figure with sides that meet at 4 right-angles.
Rectum
Rectum See: Colon; Intestine.
Recycling
Recycling, recovery and use of waste material.
Red Baron
Red Baron See: War aces.
Red cedar
Red cedar See: Juniper.
Red Cloud
Red Cloud (1822–1909), chief of the Oglala Sioux and leader of the Native American struggle against the opening of the Bozeman Trail.
Red Cross
Red Cross, international agency for the relief of victims of war or disaster. Its two aims are to alleviate suffering and to maintain a rigid neutrality so that it may cross national borders to reach those otherwise unaidable. An international committee founded by J.H. Dunant and four others from Geneva secured 12 nations' signatures to the first of the Geneva Conventions (1864) for the car…
Red deer
Red deer (Cervus elaphus), member of the deer family, native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
Red drum
Red drum See: Redfish.
Red fox
Red fox See: Fox.
Red gum
Red gum See: Sweet gum.
Red Jacket
Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha; 1758?–1830), Seneca chief named for the red coat he wore when an English ally in the Revolution.
Red pepper
Red pepper See: Capsicum.
Red River
Red River, river that rises in northern Texas and flows southeast to join the Mississippi River between Natchez and Baton Rouge, forming most of the Oklahoma-Texas boundary.
Red River of the North
Red River of the North, river formed at Wahpeton, N.
Red Sea
Red Sea, sea separating the Arabian Peninsula from the northeastern region of Africa.
Red shift
Red shift, increase in wavelength of the light from an object (toward the red end of the visible spectrum), usually caused by its rapid recession.
Red snapper
Red snapper See: Snapper.
Red Square
Red Square See: Moscow.
Red tape
Red tape, expression used to describe inaction or delay caused by official or bureaucratic inefficiency, inflexibility, or complexity, so called for the red string once used by lawyers to bind legal documents.
Red tide
Red tide, natural phenomenon caused by a sudden increase of microscopic reddish organisms on the surface of a body of water.
Red-winged blackbird
Red-winged blackbird See: Blackbird.
Redbreast
Redbreast See: Robin.
Redbud
Redbud, flowering tree (genus Cercis) of the pea family, native to North America, southern Europe, and Asia.
Robert Redfield
Redfield, Robert (1897–1958), U.S. cultural anthropologist best known for his comparative studies of cultures, and for his active support of racial integration.
Redfish
Redfish, name for several types of popular gamefish found off the Atlantic coasts of North America.
Robert Redford
Redford, Robert (1937– ),U.S. actor and director, winner of the Academy Award for best director (1980) for Ordinary People.
Sir Michael Redgrave
Redgrave, Sir Michael (1908–85), English actor.
John Edward Redmond
Redmond, John Edward (1856–1918), Irish politician.
Odilon Redon
Redon, Odilon (1840–1916), French painter and engraver associated with the Symbolists.
Redpoll
Redpoll, small bird (Acanthis flammed) of the finch family.
Redstart
Redstart, bird (Setophaga ruticilla) of the wood warbler family.
Reduction
Reduction, in chemistry, any process that increases the proportion of hydrogen or base-forming elements or radicals in a compound.
Redwood
Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), world's tallest living tree.
Redwood National Park
Redwood National Park, area in northern California of 109,207 acres (44,196 hectares), including 40 mi (64 km) of Pacific Ocean coastline, established in 1968 to preserve groves of ancient redwood trees.
Reed
Reed, name for cosmopolitan grasses of wet ground and shallow water.
John Reed
Reed, John (1887–1920), U.S. journalist and radical, author of the eyewitness Ten Days That Shook the World (1919), which recounts the Russian October Revolution.
Thomas Brackett Reed
Reed, Thomas Brackett (1839–1902), U.S.
Walter Reed
Reed, Walter (1851–1902), U.S.
Reef
Reef See: Atoll; Coral.
Reference book
Reference book See: Almanac; Dictionary; Encyclopedia.
Referendum
Referendum See: Inititive, referendum, and recall.
Refining
Refining See: Metallurgy; Petroleum; Sugar cane.
Reflection
Reflection, bouncing back of energy waves (e.g., light radiation, sound or water waves) from a surface.
Reflex action
Reflex action, automatic response of the human body to stimuli.
Reform bills
Reform bills, 3 acts of Parliament passed in Britain during the 19th century to extend the right to vote.
Reformation
Reformation, religious and political upheaval in western Europe in the 16th century. Primarily an attempt to reform the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church, it led to the establishment of Protestantism. Anticlericalism spread after the movements led by John Wycliffe and the Lollards in 14th-century England and by John Hus in Bohemia in the 15th century. At the same time the papacy had lost pres…
Reformed Church in America
Reformed Church in America, offshoot of the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands, based on the doctrines of John Calvin.
Reformed churches
Reformed churches, Protestant churches arising from the Reformation that adhere to Calvinism doctrinally and to Presbyterianism in church polity and are thus distinct from the Lutheran churches and the Church of England.
Refraction
Refraction, deviation of a ray of light passing through one transparent medium to another of different density, as for instance an object that is half in and half out of water.
Refractory
Refractory, nonmetallic materials that can withstand high temperatures without losing their hardness.
Refrigeration
Refrigeration, removal of heat from an enclosure in order to lower its temperature.
Refugee
Refugee, or displaced person, person fleeing a native country to avoid a threat or restriction. In the 20th century refugees have created a world problem. Pogroms forced Jews to leave Russia (1881–1917). In World War I Greeks and Armenians fled Turkey. About 1.5 million Russians settled in Europe after the Russian Revolution. In the 1930s Spaniards and Chinese left their respective homeland…
Regelation
Regelation, melting of ice under pressure and refreezing when the pressure is removed.
Regency style
Regency style, English architectural and decorative style popular during the regency and reign of George IV (1811–30).
Regeneration
Regeneration, in biology, regrowing of a lost or damaged part of an organism.
Regent
Regent, in monarchies, person designated to rule when the rightful ruler is absent, ill, mentally incapable of ruling, or a minor.
Reggae
Reggae, popular Jamaican musical style that combines U.S. rock and soul music with calypso and other Latin American rhythms.
Regiment
Regiment, military term for what was once the largest infantry and armored division unit in an army.
Regina
Regina (pop. 175,100), capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
Regina Medal
Regina Medal, children's literature award.
Regulators
Regulators, movement in the western part of North Carolina (1764–71) that resisted extortion and oppression by colonial officials.
Marcus Atilius Regulus
Regulus, Marcus Atilius (d. c.249 B.C.), roman general captured in the first Punic War (255 B.C.).
William Hubbs Rehnquist
Rehnquist, William Hubbs (1924– ), U.S. jurist.
Reich
Reich, German term used to designate an empire.
Wilhelm Reich
Reich, Wilhelm (1897–1957), Austrian psychoanalyst who broke with Sigmund Freud over the function of sexual repression, which Reich saw as the root of neurosis.
Reichstag
Reichstag, imperial parliament of the Holy Roman Empire and, from 1871 to 1945, Germany's lower legislative house (the upper house was called the Reichsrat).
Reichswehr
Reichswehr, German term meaning “army of the state.” Set up by the German republic after World War I, it had 300,000 troops until the Treaty of Versailles reduced it to 100,000.
Whitelaw Reid
Reid, Whitelaw (1837–1912), U.S. journalist, ambassador to Britain (1905–12).
Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror, period (1793–94) during the French Revolution when fanatical Jacobin reformers, including Maximilien Robespierre, Georges Jacques Danton, and Jacques René Hébert, seized control from the Girondists.
Reims
Reims, or Rheims (pop. 185,100), city in northern France, about 100 mi (161 km) east of Paris on the Besle River.
Reincarnation
Reincarnation, or transmigration of the soul, belief that the soul survives death and is reborn in the body of another person or living thing.
Reindeer
Reindeer, deer (genus Rangifer) widely distributed in arctic and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America, closely related to the caribou.
Reindeer Lake
Reindeer Lake, natural body of water on the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border in Canada.
Reindeer moss
Reindeer moss (Cladonia rangiferina), type of lichen commonly found in the Arctic.
Fritz Reiner
Reiner, Fritz (1888–1963), U.S. conductor, director of the Cincinnati Symphony (1922–31), Pittsburgh Symphony (1938–48), Metropolitan Opera (1948–53), and Chicago Symphony (1953–62).
Reinforcement
Reinforcement See: Learning.
Max Reinhardt
Reinhardt, Max (Max Goldmann; 1873–1943), Austrian theatrical director famous for his vast and spectacular productions—especially of Oedipus Rex and Faust—and for his elaborate and atmospheric use of stage machinery and management of crowds.
Relapsing fever
Relapsing fever, bacteria-transmitted ailment that may recur several times in the same person.
Relativity
Relativity, theory of the nature of space, time, and matter. Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity (1905) is based on the premise that different observers moving at a constant speed with respect to each other find the laws of physics to be identical, and, in particular, find the speed of light waves to be the same (the principle of relativity). Among its consequences are (1) that e…
Relief
Relief, form of sculpture in which the elements of the design, whether figures or ornament, project from their background.
Relief
Relief See: Welfare.
Religion
Religion, system of belief to which a social group is committed, in which there is a supernatural object of awe, worship, and service.
Wars of Religion
Religion, Wars of, French civil wars (1562–98) caused partly by conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestant Huguenots, and partly by rivalry between the French kings and such great nobles as the dukes of Guise.
Religious education
Religious education, program of instruction in the doctrines, beliefs and practices of a given religion.
Religious festivals
Religious festivals See: Holiday.
Religious life
Religious life, lifestyle voluntarily chosen by persons to enhance their own spirituality.
Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends See: Quakers.
REM sleep
REM sleep See: Sleep.
Erich Maria Remarque
Remarque, Erich Maria (1898–1970), German-born novelist famous for his powerful antiwar novel All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), describing the horror of the trenches in World War I.
Rembrandt
Rembrandt (Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn; 1606–69), Dutch painter and etcher.
Frederic Remington
Remington, Frederic (1861–1909), U.S. painter, sculptor and writer chiefly known for his portrayals of the Old West, where he traveled extensively.
Remora
Remora, warmwater fish (family Echeneidae) that feeds off other marine animals.
Remote control
Remote control, control of a system from a distance.
Remote sensing
Remote sensing, information-gathering process that operates independently of physical contact with the object being studied.
Remus
Remus See: Romulus and Remus.
René of Anjou
René of Anjou (1409–80), duke of Anjou and Provence.
Renaissance
Renaissance (French, “rebirth” or “revival”), transitional period between the Middle Ages and modern times (1350–1650). The term was first applied by the Swiss historian Jakob Burckhardt in 1860. The Renaissance saw the Reformation challenge the unity and supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church, along with the rise of humanism, the growth of large nation-states wi…
Guido Reni
Reni, Guido (1575–1642), Italian baroque painter.
Reno
Reno (pop. 110,000), second-largest city in Nevada and a major resort and gambling center.
Marcus Albert Reno
Reno, Marcus Albert (1834–89), U.S.
Jean Renoir
Renoir, Jean (1894–1979), French film director, son of Pierre Auguste Renoir.
Pierre Auguste Renoir
Renoir, Pierre Auguste (1841–1919), French Impressionist painter.
Rent
Rent, in law, the price a tenant pays for the use of another's property.
Reparations
Reparations, term applied since World War I to monetary compensation demanded by victorious nations for material losses suffered in war.
Repeal
Repeal, act of nullifying or removing a law or constitutional amendment from the books.
Ilya Yefimovich Repin
Repin, Ilya Yefimovich (1844–1930), Russian painter.
Representative government
Representative government See: Democracy; Republic.
House of Representatives
Representatives, House of See: House of Representatives.
Repression
Repression See: Psychoanalysis.
Reprieve
Reprieve, in criminal law, the postponement of a sentence that has been imposed by the courts.
Reproduction
Reproduction, process by which an organism produces offspring. In asexual reproduction parts of an organism split off to form new individuals; the process is found in some animals but is more common in plants: e.g., the fission of single-celled plants; the budding of yeasts; the fragmentation of filamentous algae; spore production in bacteria, algae, and fungi; and the production of vegetative org…
Reproductive system
Reproductive system See: Reproduction.
Reptile
Reptile, cold blooded vertebrate with dry, scaly skin. Reptiles can be found in a wide variety of habitats, including the sea and points north of the Arctic Circle, but most live in the tropics. There are no reptiles in Antarctica. There are about 6,000 species of reptiles. They range in size from 2 in (5 cm) to 30 ft (9 m). They breathe through lungs and are cold blooded, meaning that their body …
Age of Reptiles
Reptiles, Age of See: Dinosaur; Prehistoric animal.
Republic
Republic (from Latin res publica, “thing of the people”), form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch (and today is usually a president).
Republican Party
Republican Party, one of the two major political parties of the United States. It is sometimes called the G.O.P., which stands for Grand Old Party, a nickname dating from the 19th century. It was founded in 1854 by dissidents of the Whig, Democratic, and Free Soil parties to unify the growing antislavery forces. Its first national nominating convention was held in 1856; J.C. Frémont was ado…
Research
Research, use of appropriate methods to discover new knowledge, develop new applications of existing knowledge, or explore relationships between ideas or events.
Reserpine
Reserpine (C33H40N2O9), tranquilizing drug used to treat mild forms of hypertension (high blood pressure).
Reservation
Reservation See: Indian reservation; Native Americans.
Reserve Officers Training Corps
Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), U.S.
Reservoir
Reservoir, body of water or receptacle used for storing large supplies of water.
Resin
Resin, high-molecular-weight substance characterized by its gummy or tacky consistency at certain temperatures.
synthetic Resin
Resin, synthetic, industrial chemical compound made up of many simple molecules linked together to form large, complex molecules. Most plastics and polymers are a form of synthetic resin. Complicated chemical processes are used to convert petroleum, coal, water, air, and wood into more complex chemicals, such as alcohol, phenol, ammonia, and formaldehyde; these, in turn, are combined to form synth…
Resorcinol
Resorcinol (C6H4[OH]2), compound used to manufacture resins, dyes, medical products, and other chemical compounds.
natural Resources
Resources, natural See: Natural resources.
Ottorino Respighi
Respighi, Ottorino (1879–1936), Italian composer, director (1924–26) of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
Respiration
Respiration, term applied to several activities and processes involving the exchange of gases with the environment, occurring in all animals and plants. Breathing movements, if any, and the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, may be called external respiration, while energy-releasing processes at the cellular level are termed “internal respiration,” or tissue respiration. Air, whi…
Respirator
Respirator, machine that aids the respiratory process in human beings, especially in extreme circumstances when a patient has difficulty breathing normally or if breathing stops altogether.
Respiratory distress syndrome
Respiratory distress syndrome See: Hyaline membrane disease.