• Décadas da Ásia (work by Barros)

    Singapore: History of Singapore: …shipping activity in his history Décadas da Ásia (1552–1615).

  • décade (French chronology)

    calendar: The French republican calendar: …periods of 10 days called décades, the last day of a décade being a rest day. It was also agreed that each day should be divided into decimal parts, but this was not popular in practice and was allowed to fall into disuse.

  • decadence (literature)

    decadence, a period of decline or deterioration of art or literature that follows an era of great achievement. Examples include the Silver Age of Latin literature, which began about ad 18 following the end of the Golden Age, and the Decadent movement at the end of the 19th century in France and

  • Decadent (literary movement)

    Decadent, any of several poets or other writers of the end of the 19th century, including the French Symbolist poets in particular and their contemporaries in England, the later generation of the Aesthetic movement. Both groups aspired to set literature and art free from the materialistic

  • Décadent (literary movement)

    Decadent, any of several poets or other writers of the end of the 19th century, including the French Symbolist poets in particular and their contemporaries in England, the later generation of the Aesthetic movement. Both groups aspired to set literature and art free from the materialistic

  • Décadent, Le (French literary magazine)

    Decadent: …to 1889 appeared a review, Le Décadent, founded by Anatole Baju, with Verlaine among its contributors. The Decadents claimed Charles Baudelaire (d. 1867) as their inspiration and counted Arthur Rimbaud, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Tristan Corbière among themselves. Another significant figure was the novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans, who

  • Decadentism (Italian artistic movement)

    Decadentism, Italian artistic movement that derived its name but not all its characteristics from the French and English Decadents, who flourished in the last 10 years of the 19th century. Writers of the Italian movement, which did not have the cohesion usual in such cases, generally reacted to

  • Decadentismo (Italian artistic movement)

    Decadentism, Italian artistic movement that derived its name but not all its characteristics from the French and English Decadents, who flourished in the last 10 years of the 19th century. Writers of the Italian movement, which did not have the cohesion usual in such cases, generally reacted to

  • decadrachm (ancient coin)

    coin: Early developments, c. 650–490 bc: …been commemorated by the famous decadrachms (Demareteia) associated with Queen Demarete, wife of King Gelon. These superb and now very rare examples of early classical genius showed on the obverse the head of Arethusa (the fountain nymph of Syracusan Ortygia), wreathed (possibly for victory), and on the reverse a chariot…

  • decaf coffee (beverage)

    coffee roasting: If the beans are chemically decaffeinated, roasting also removes all but trace amounts of the solvent residues. Roasting results in a loss of weight between 14 and 23 percent, and the internal pressure of gas expands the coffee beans by 30–100 percent. The beans become a deep rich brown, and…

  • decaffeinated coffee (beverage)

    coffee roasting: If the beans are chemically decaffeinated, roasting also removes all but trace amounts of the solvent residues. Roasting results in a loss of weight between 14 and 23 percent, and the internal pressure of gas expands the coffee beans by 30–100 percent. The beans become a deep rich brown, and…

  • decaffeination

    decaffeination, process by which caffeine is removed from coffee beans and tea leaves. Coffee and teas made from Camellia sinensis, such as black and green teas, naturally contain caffeine, which is a chemical used by the plants to deter herbivores. A number of coffee and tea drinkers relish the

  • Decaisne, Joseph (French botanist)

    Gustave-Adolphe Thuret: …began to study botany under Joseph Decaisne. He became interested in the history and behaviour of the marine algae and in about 1840 described the flagella (whiplike structures) of the spermatozoids (male sex cells) of the green alga Chara. In 1844 Decaisne and Thuret announced the finding of spermatozoids in…

  • decal (art)

    decal, design that is printed on specially prepared paper to form a film that can be transferred to any surface. Such films are widely used for decorating and labeling any objects that cannot be run through a press. Decals are made in a variety of ways, depending upon the need to be served. The

  • decalcomania (art)

    decal, design that is printed on specially prepared paper to form a film that can be transferred to any surface. Such films are widely used for decorating and labeling any objects that cannot be run through a press. Decals are made in a variety of ways, depending upon the need to be served. The

  • Decalogue (Old Testament)

    Ten Commandments, list of religious precepts that, according to various passages in Exodus and Deuteronomy, were divinely revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai and were engraved on two tablets of stone. The Commandments are recorded virtually identically in Exodus 20:2–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21. The

  • Decalogue (Polish television series)

    Krzysztof Kieślowski: Kieślowski’s mammoth Dekalog (1988–89; Decalogue), cowritten with Piesiewicz, is a series inspired by the Ten Commandments and made for Polish television. Each of the 10 hour-long episodes explores at least one commandment; as the commandments are not explicitly named, the audience is invited to identify the moral…

  • Decameron (work by Boccaccio)

    Decameron, collection of tales by Giovanni Boccaccio, probably composed between 1349 and 1353. The work is regarded as a masterpiece of classical Italian prose. While romantic in tone and form, it breaks from medieval sensibility in its insistence on the human ability to overcome, even exploit,

  • decametre radiation (physics)

    Jupiter: Radio emission: …intermittent radio emission at the decametre wavelengths has been studied from Earth in the accessible range of 3.5–39.5 megahertz. Free of Earth’s ionosphere, which blocks lower frequencies from reaching the surface, the radio-wave experiment on the Voyager spacecraft was able to detect emissions from Jupiter down to 60 kilohertz, corresponding…

  • Decamps, Alexandre (French painter)

    Alexandre Decamps was one of the first French painters of the 19th century to turn from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. In his youth Decamps traveled in the Middle East and painted the life and scenery of that part of the world with a bold fidelity to nature, using a technique that was marked by

  • Decamps, Alexandre-Gabriel (French painter)

    Alexandre Decamps was one of the first French painters of the 19th century to turn from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. In his youth Decamps traveled in the Middle East and painted the life and scenery of that part of the world with a bold fidelity to nature, using a technique that was marked by

  • decan (astronomy)

    astronomical map: The decans: Two other astronomical reference systems developed independently in early antiquity, the lunar mansions and the Egyptian decans. The decans are 36 star configurations circling the sky somewhat to the south of the ecliptic. They make their appearance in drawings and texts inside coffin lids…

  • Deçan Monastery (monastery, Kosovo)

    Kosovo: History of Kosovo: …Orthodox sites, such as the Dečani Monastery (Deçan Monastery; 1327–35) with its more than 1,000 frescoes.

  • Dečani Monastery (monastery, Kosovo)

    Kosovo: History of Kosovo: …Orthodox sites, such as the Dečani Monastery (Deçan Monastery; 1327–35) with its more than 1,000 frescoes.

  • decanoic acid (chemistry)

    carboxylic acid: Saturated aliphatic acids: decanoic (capric) acids, respectively. Common names for these three acids are derived from the Latin caper, meaning “goat.” Some hard cheeses (e.g., Swiss cheese) contain natural propanoic acid. The higher even-numbered saturated acids, from C12 to C18 (lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic

  • decanting problem (mathematics)

    number game: Kinds of problems: …ingenuity, as for example, so-called decanting and difficult crossings problems. A typical example of the former is how to measure out one quart of a liquid if only an eight-, a five-, and a three-quart measure are available. Difficult crossings problems are exemplified by the dilemma of three couples trying…

  • Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories, The (short stories by Quiroga)

    Horacio Quiroga: …degollada y otras cuentos (1925; The Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories). The work generally recognized as his masterpiece, Anaconda (1921), portrays on several levels—realistic, philosophical, and symbolic—the battles of the snakes in the tropical jungle, the nonvenomous anaconda and the venomous viper.

  • decapitation (capital punishment)

    beheading, a mode of executing capital punishment by which the head is severed from the body. The ancient Greeks and Romans regarded it as a most honorable form of death. Before execution the criminal was tied to a stake and whipped with rods. In early times an ax was used, but later a sword, which

  • decapod (crustacean)

    decapod, (order Decapoda), any of more than 8,000 species of crustaceans (phylum Arthropoda) that include shrimp, lobsters, crayfish, hermit crabs, and crabs. The presence of five pairs of thoracic legs (pereiopods) is the basis for the name decapod (from the Greek meaning “10 legs”). Members of

  • Decapoda (crustacean)

    decapod, (order Decapoda), any of more than 8,000 species of crustaceans (phylum Arthropoda) that include shrimp, lobsters, crayfish, hermit crabs, and crabs. The presence of five pairs of thoracic legs (pereiopods) is the basis for the name decapod (from the Greek meaning “10 legs”). Members of

  • Decapolis (ancient Greek league, Palestine)

    Decapolis, league of 10 ancient Greek cities in eastern Palestine that was formed after the Roman conquest of Palestine in 63 bce, when Pompey the Great reorganized the Middle East to Rome’s advantage and to his own. The name Decapolis also denotes the roughly contiguous territory formed by these

  • DeCarava, Roy (American photographer)

    Roy DeCarava was an American photographer whose images of African Americans chronicle subjects such as daily life in Harlem, the civil rights movement, and jazz musicians. DeCarava won a scholarship to study at the Cooper Union School of Art (1938–40). However, he left after two years to attend the

  • DeCarava, Roy Rudolph (American photographer)

    Roy DeCarava was an American photographer whose images of African Americans chronicle subjects such as daily life in Harlem, the civil rights movement, and jazz musicians. DeCarava won a scholarship to study at the Cooper Union School of Art (1938–40). However, he left after two years to attend the

  • decarbonization (pollution control)

    decarbonization, type of climate-change mitigation designed to reduce the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming by human activities and to remove excess amounts of greenhouse gases from Earth’s atmosphere. Decarbonization can be achieved

  • decarburization

    molybdenum processing: Ferromolybdenum: …a metallothermic process or a carbon-reduction process in electric furnaces. Because the latter process has the inherent disadvantage of introducing a high carbon content into the FeMo alloy, the thermic process, in which aluminum and silicon metals are used for the reduction of a charge consisting of a mixture of…

  • Decas decadum, Sive plagiariorum et pseudonymorum centuria (work by Fabricius)

    Johann Albert Fabricius: …philosophy and published anonymously his Decas decadum, Sive plagiariorum et pseudonymorum centuria, a survey of 100 writers accused of plagiarism or literary mystification. In 1694 he became librarian in Hamburg to J.F. Mayer, an antipietist theologian, and from 1699 until his death he taught at the gymnasium there as professor…

  • decathlon (athletics)

    decathlon, athletic competition lasting two consecutive days in which contestants take part in 10 track-and-field events. It was introduced as a three-day event at the Olympic Games in 1912. Decathlon events are: (first day) 100-metre dash, running long (broad) jump, shot put, high jump, and

  • decating (fabric finishing)

    textile: Decating: Decating is a process applied to woollens and worsteds, synthetic and blended fibre fabrics, and various types of knits. It involves the application of heat and pressure to set or develop lustre and softer hand and to even the set and grain of certain…

  • Decatur (Georgia, United States)

    Decatur, city, seat (1823) of DeKalb county, northwestern Georgia, U.S. It is an eastern suburb of Atlanta. Named for Stephen Decatur, the American naval hero of the War of 1812, it was originally a trading centre for small farmers, and stone quarrying was an early activity in the surrounding area.

  • Decatur (Alabama, United States)

    Decatur, city, seat (1891) of Morgan county, northern Alabama, U.S. It lies along the Tennessee River about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Huntsville. Andrew Jackson gave land grants in the area to soldiers who marched with him to the Battle of New Orleans (January 8, 1815), and in 1820 the city was

  • Decatur (Illinois, United States)

    Decatur, city, seat (1829) of Macon county, central Illinois, U.S. It lies along a bend in the Sangamon River (there dammed to form Lake Decatur), about halfway between Springfield and Champaign. First settled in 1820, the town was founded in 1829 and was named for the American naval hero Stephen

  • Decatur, Stephen (United States naval officer)

    Stephen Decatur was a U.S. naval officer who held important commands in the War of 1812. After returning from successful engagements abroad in 1815, he replied to a toast with the famous words: “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country,

  • decay

    radioactivity, property exhibited by certain types of matter of emitting energy and subatomic particles spontaneously. It is, in essence, an attribute of individual atomic nuclei. An unstable nucleus will decompose spontaneously, or decay, into a more stable configuration but will do so only in a

  • decay (sound)

    envelope: the attack, sustain, and decay of a sound. Attack transients consist of changes occurring before the sound reaches its steady-state intensity. Sustain refers to the steady state of a sound at its maximum intensity, and decay is the rate at which it fades to silence. In the context of…

  • decay (dental disease)

    caries, cavity or decay of a tooth, a localized disease that begins at the surface of the tooth and may progress through the dentine into the pulp cavity. It is believed that the action of microorganisms in the mouth on ingested sugars and carbohydrates produces acids that eat away the enamel. The

  • decay (biology)

    soap and detergent: Raw materials: …and, because the foam retards biological degradation of organic material in sewage, it caused problems in sewage-water regeneration systems. In countries where sewage water is used for irrigation, the foam was also a problem. Intensive research in the 1960s led to changes in the alkylbenzene sulfonate molecules. The tetrapropylene, which…

  • decay (plant disease)

    rot, any of several plant diseases, caused by any of hundreds of species of soil-borne bacteria, fungi, and funguslike organisms (Oomycota). Rot diseases are characterized by plant decomposition and putrefaction. The decay may be hard, dry, spongy, watery, mushy, or slimy and may affect any plant

  • decay constant (nuclear physics)

    decay constant, proportionality between the size of a population of radioactive atoms and the rate at which the population decreases because of radioactive decay. Suppose N is the size of a population of radioactive atoms at a given time t, and dN is the amount by which the population decreases in

  • Decay of the Angel, The (novel by Mishima)

    The Sea of Fertility: …Dawn), and Tennin gosui (The Decay of the Angel)—is set in Japan, and together they cover the period from roughly 1912 to the 1960s. Each of them depicts a different reincarnation of the same being: as a young aristocrat in 1912, as a political fanatic in the 1930s, as…

  • decay organism (biology)

    carbon cycle: …as CO2 by decay, or decomposer, organisms (chiefly bacteria and fungi) in a series of microbial transformations.

  • decay rate (radioactivity)

    radioactivity: Radioactive decay is a property of several naturally occurring elements as well as of artificially produced isotopes of the elements. The rate at which a radioactive element decays is expressed in terms of its half-life; i.e., the time required for one-half of any given quantity of…

  • decay time (physics)

    radiation measurement: Scintillators: The decay time determines the rate at which the light is emitted following the excitation and is also characteristic of the particular scintillation material. Decay times range from less than one nanosecond to several microseconds and generally represent the slowest process in the several steps involved…

  • decay transient (music)

    sound: Other effects on tone: …a piano key struck, and decay transients, such as the way the sound of a plucked string dies away, are very important in many instruments, particularly those that are struck or plucked. Vibrato (a periodic slow change in pitch) and tremolo (a periodic slow change in amplitude) also aid the…

  • Decazes, Élie, Duke, Duke Af Glücksberg (French politician)

    Élie, Duke Decazes was a French political figure and leader of the moderate constitutional monarchists during the Bourbon Restoration. A lawyer by profession, Decazes had previously served as a local magistrate (1806), a councillor to Louis Bonaparte in Holland (1807), and judge of the Parisian

  • Decca (radio-beam system)

    commercial fishing: Fish finding: …satellite-transmitted position-fixing equipment such as Decca Navigator, Loran, and Satnav. These enable a skipper to return to the precise position where fish are spotted or to a particular location such as a coral reef or where gear has been set. Microprocessor technology allows information from various instruments such as sonar,…

  • Decca Records (American company)

    Decca Records: Shaking, Rattling, and Rolling: Formed as an American division by its British parent company in 1934, Decca was the only major company to stand by its black roster during the 1940s, although most of its artists—including vocal groups (the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots) and big bands (led…

  • Decca Records: Shaking, Rattling, and Rolling

    Formed as an American division by its British parent company in 1934, Decca was the only major company to stand by its black roster during the 1940s, although most of its artists—including vocal groups (the Mills Brothers and the Ink Spots) and big bands (led by Lionel Hampton and Buddy

  • Deccan (plateau, India)

    Deccan, the entire southern peninsula of India south of the Narmada River, marked centrally by a high triangular tableland. The name derives from the Sanskrit daksina (“south”). The plateau is bounded on the east and west by the Ghats, escarpments that meet at the plateau’s southern tip. Its

  • Deccan Chargers (Indian cricket team)

    Indian Premier League: …the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Deccan Chargers (based in Hyderabad), the Delhi Daredevils (renamed to Delhi Capitals), the Punjab XI Kings (renamed to Punjab Kings) (Mohali), the Kolkata Knight Riders, and the Rajasthan Royals (Jaipur). In late 2010 two franchises, Rajasthan and Punjab, were expelled from the league by the…

  • Deccan Education Society (Indian organization)

    Bal Gangadhar Tilak: Early life and career: …university college after founding the Deccan Education Society (1884), which aimed at educating the masses, especially in the English language; he and his associates considered English to be a powerful force for the dissemination of liberal and democratic ideals.

  • Deccan Plateau (plateau, India)

    Deccan, the entire southern peninsula of India south of the Narmada River, marked centrally by a high triangular tableland. The name derives from the Sanskrit daksina (“south”). The plateau is bounded on the east and west by the Ghats, escarpments that meet at the plateau’s southern tip. Its

  • Deccan style (architectural style)

    India: Literature and the arts: The Deccani style, vasara, tended to be an intermixture of the northern and the southern, with early examples at Vatapi, Aihole, and Pattadakal and, later, at Halebid, Belur, and Somnathpur in the vicinity of Mysore. The wealth of the temples made them the focus of attack…

  • Deccan Traps (geological formation, India)

    Cretaceous Period: Mass extinction: …lava, known as the Deccan Traps, occurred in India during the latest Cretaceous. Some paleontologists believe that the carbon dioxide that accompanied these flows created a global greenhouse effect that greatly warmed the planet. Others note that tectonic plate movements caused a major rearrangement of the world’s landmasses, particularly during…

  • Deccani painting (Indian art)

    Deccani painting, style of miniature painting that flourished from the late 16th century among the Deccani sultanates in peninsular India. The style is a sensitive, highly integrated blend of indigenous and foreign art forms. The elongated figures are seemingly related to Vijayanagar wall

  • Deceased, The (film by Hirszman [1965])

    Fernanda Montenegro: …films were A falecida (1965; The Deceased); Eles não usam Black-Tie (1981; They Don’t Wear Black Tie), about family relations and labour unrest; and the three-part Traição (1998; Treason), which examined adultery. Her television credits included a number of soap operas, in which she was usually typecast as an “elegant,…

  • Decebalus (Dacian king)

    Decebalus was the king of the Dacians, a people who lived in the territory known presently as Romania. Decebalus unified the various Dacian tribes into one nation and led them in wars against the Roman emperors Domitian and Trajan. When Decebalus came to power in 85, he immediately organized an

  • decedents’ estates, law of (law)

    probate, in Anglo-American law, the judicial proceedings by which it is determined whether or not a paper purporting to be the last will of a deceased person is the legally valid last will. What appears to be a valid will may not be so: it may have been forged, not executed in the way required by

  • deceit (law)

    white-collar crime: Common characteristics: …they involve the use of deceit and concealment, rather than the application of force or violence, for the illegitimate gain of money, property, or services. A defendant convicted of making false statements in order to obtain a government contract, for example, is considered a white-collar criminal.

  • Decelea (ancient city, Greece)

    Decelea, in ancient Greece, an Attic deme (township) on the east end of Mount Párnis overlooking the Athenian plain. Its traditional friendship with Sparta is traced to the legend of Decelus, the hero for whom the deme was named. Decelus indicated to the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) where Theseus

  • Deceleia (ancient city, Greece)

    Decelea, in ancient Greece, an Attic deme (township) on the east end of Mount Párnis overlooking the Athenian plain. Its traditional friendship with Sparta is traced to the legend of Decelus, the hero for whom the deme was named. Decelus indicated to the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) where Theseus

  • deceleration injury

    deceleration injury, impact injury to a body within or upon a rapidly moving object caused by the forces exerted when the object is brought to a sudden halt. Deceleration injury can occur in high-speed vehicles when they stop or slow down abruptly or when the occupants of the vehicle are propelled

  • Decem categoriae (pseudo-Augustinian work)

    history of logic: Transmission of Greek logic to the Latin West: The pseudo-Augustinian Decem categoriae (“Ten Categories”) is a late 4th-century Latin paraphrase of a Greek compendium of the Categories. In the late 5th century Martianus Capella’s allegorical De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii (The Marriage of Philology and Mercury) contains “On the Art of Dialectic” as book IV.

  • December (month)

    December, twelfth month of the Gregorian calendar. Its name is derived from decem, Latin for “ten,” indicating its position in the early Roman

  • December 7th (film by Ford and Toland [1943])

    John Ford: 1930s to World War II: …Battle of Midway (1942) and December 7th (1943), won Academy Awards for best documentary—and, working for the Office of Strategic Services, he was present at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Having been personally under fire and a witness to slaughter, he was so proud of his military service and status that…

  • December Bride (American television series)

    Harry Morgan: …role on the situation comedy December Bride (1954–59), which led to the development of Pete and Gladys (1960–62), a spin-off focusing on the marriage of his character, Pete Porter. Morgan then starred in the police procedural Dragnet 1967 (1967–70), a revival of an earlier series that had featured his on-screen…

  • December constitution (Austrian history)

    Austria: Ausgleich of 1867: …and became known as the December constitution, lasted until 1918. These laws granted equality before the law and freedom of press, speech, and assembly; they also protected the interests of the various nationalities, stating that

  • Decemberists, The (American musical group)

    The Decemberists, American indie-rock group known for its highly stylized, literate songs. The band’s principal members were lead singer and guitarist Colin Meloy (b. October 5, 1974, Helena, Montana, U.S.), keyboardist and accordionist Jenny Conlee (b. December 12, 1971, Seattle, Washington),

  • Decembrist (Russian history)

    Decembrist, any of the Russian revolutionaries who led an unsuccessful uprising on Dec. 14 (Dec. 26, New Style), 1825, and through their martyrdom provided a source of inspiration to succeeding generations of Russian dissidents. The Decembrists were primarily members of the upper classes who had

  • Decembrist revolt (Russian history)

    Decembrist, any of the Russian revolutionaries who led an unsuccessful uprising on Dec. 14 (Dec. 26, New Style), 1825, and through their martyrdom provided a source of inspiration to succeeding generations of Russian dissidents. The Decembrists were primarily members of the upper classes who had

  • Decembrists’ Square (square, Saint Petersburg, Russia)

    Nicholas I: Ascent to the throne of Nicholas I: …in military formation to the Senate Square—now the Decembrist Square—in the heart of the capital. Although the rebellion had failed by nightfall, it meant that Nicholas I ascended the throne over the bodies of some of his subjects and in actual combat with the dreaded revolution.

  • decemviri (ancient Rome)

    decemviri, (Latin: “ten men”), in ancient Rome, any official commission of 10. The designation is most often used in reference to decemviri legibus scribundis, a temporary legislative commission that supplanted the regular magistracy from 451 to 449 bc. It was directed to construct a code of laws

  • Decency, Legion of (American organization)

    Hays Code: Enforcement: …Roman Catholic prelates formed the Legion of Decency, which created its own film-rating system and called for boycotts of films it found offensive. Given that studios were more economically fragile as a result of the Great Depression, they were also more vulnerable to activists’ actions. As a result, Hays established…

  • decentralization (government and politics)

    devolution, the transfer of power from a central government to subnational (e.g., state, regional, or local) authorities. Devolution usually occurs through conventional statutes rather than through a change in a country’s constitution; thus, unitary systems of government that have devolved powers

  • decentralization (dance)

    Alwin Nikolais: …the related concept of “decentralization,” in which the focal point could be anywhere on the dancer’s body or even outside the body. This was a departure from the traditional opinion that the “centre” of focus was the solar plexus. These theories were developed under Hanya Holm and were displayed…

  • Decentralized autonomous organizations: DAOs as an alternative investment

    If cryptocurrency stands on a horizon far off the traditional investment path, then investing in a virtual organization that supports crypto projects is even more “alternative” than your typical alternative asset. We’re not talking about public or private brick-and-mortar companies involved in

  • deception (law)

    information system: Computer crime and abuse: …followed by identity theft, an impersonation of the user to gain access to the user’s resources.

  • deception (human behavior)

    gaslighting: …elaborate and insidious technique of deception and psychological manipulation, usually practiced by a single deceiver, or “gaslighter,” on a single victim over an extended period. Its effect is to gradually undermine the victims’ confidence in their own ability to distinguish truth from falsehood, right from wrong, or reality from appearance,…

  • Deception (film by Rapper [1946])

    Irving Rapper: Heyday at Warner Brothers: …Davis, Rains, and Henreid on Deception, a florid melodrama that was among the director’s best pictures; it was based on Louis Verneuil’s play Monsieur Lamberthier. Davis played a music teacher whose marriage to a cellist (Henreid) is threatened by her former lover (Rains), an egotistical composer.

  • Deception Bay (Queensland, Australia)

    Deception Bay, bay and resort town, southeastern Queensland, Australia. The town of Deception Bay lies about 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Caboolture and 20 miles (32 km) north of Brisbane. The city of Redcliffe is located on the peninsula (Redcliffe Peninsula) that forms the southern limits of the

  • Deception Island (island, Antarctica)

    Deception Island, one of the South Shetland Islands, in the Drake Passage, off the Antarctic Peninsula. It is a sunken volcano, the crater of which, about 10 miles (16 km) in diameter, forms one of the best anchorages in the Antarctic. The harbour, known as Port Foster, has been the central port of

  • Deception Point (novel by Brown)

    Dan Brown: After his third novel, Deception Point (2001), Brown returned to Langdon with The Da Vinci Code, a thriller that centres on art history, Christianity’s origins, and arcane theories. Attempting to solve the murder of the Louvre’s curator, Langdon encounters mysterious organizations (Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion), discusses…

  • deceptive cadence (music)

    cadence: A deceptive cadence begins with V, like an authentic cadence, except that it does not end on the tonic. Often the triad built on the sixth degree (VI, the submediant) substitutes for the tonic, with which it shares two of its three pitches. A deceptive cadence…

  • deceptive coloration (biology)

    coloration: Optical functions: deceptive coloration: Deceptive coloration depends on four factors: the coloured organism, hereafter referred to as the organism; its model, which may be the background against which it is concealed; the spectral quality of the illumination; and the visual sensitivity and behaviour of the animal or…

  • Decet Romanum Pontificem (papal bull)

    Martin Luther: Excommunication: The ensuing bull of excommunication, Decet Romanum Pontificem (“It Pleases the Roman Pontiff”), was published on January 3, 1521. Martin Luther was formally declared a heretic. Ordinarily, those condemned as heretics were apprehended by an authority of the secular government and put to death by burning. In Luther’s case, however,…

  • Déchelette, Joseph (French archaeologist)

    Joseph Déchelette was a French archaeologist and author of an important work covering the entire field of the prehistory of France, Le Manuel d’archéologie préhistorique, celtique et gallo-romaine (1908–14; “Textbook of Prehistoric, Celtic, and Gallo-Roman Archaeology”). With his uncle, J.-G.

  • Déchirure, La (work by Bauchau)

    Henry Bauchau: His first novel, La Déchirure (1966; “The Tear”), is a multileveled narrative on the loss of his mother viewed against a backdrop of Belgian social change. Le Régiment noir (1972; “The Black Regiment”) follows an exiled European among African American soldiers in the American Civil War. Œdipe sur…

  • decibar (unit of measurement)

    seawater: Density of seawater and pressure: …a pressure of about one decibar (0.1 atmosphere), the pressure in decibars is approximately equal to the depth in metres. (One decibar is one-tenth of a bar, which in turn is equal to 105 newtons per square metre.)

  • decibel (unit of measurement)

    decibel (dB), unit for expressing the ratio between two physical quantities, usually amounts of acoustic or electric power, or for measuring the relative loudness of sounds. One decibel (0.1 bel) equals 10 times the common logarithm of the power ratio. Expressed as a formula, the intensity of a

  • decidability (logic)

    metalogic: Discoveries about formal mathematical systems: …arrived at sharp concepts of decidability. In one sense, decidability is a property of sets (of sentences): that of being subject (or not) to mechanical methods by which to decide in a finite number of steps, for any closed sentence of a given formal system (e.g., of N), whether it…

  • Decider (novel by Francis)

    Dick Francis: Later novels included Comeback (1991), Decider (1993), Come to Grief (1995), To the Hilt (1996), 10 Lb. Penalty (1997), Second Wind (1999), Shattered (2000), and Under Orders (2006). Late in life he began coauthoring novels with his son Felix, including Dead Heat