Viverrids (family Viverridae) are any of 35 species of small Old World mammals, including civets, genets, and linsangs. Viverrids are among the most poorly known carnivores. This is an alphabetically ordered list of selected

This is a list of wars ordered chronologically by the year that hostilities were initiated. (See also war; law of war; military technology; collective

This is a list of waterfalls, ordered alphabetically by continent or region and by

This is a list of weapons organized alphabetically by

This is a list of weights and measures, arranged by type of unit. The measurement system in which it is used is also given as well as metric and U.S. Customary

Microsoft’s Windows operating system (OS) is ubiquitous today, but how has it evolved over the years? Windows has faced stiff competition from IBM, Apple, the Linux Foundation, and other organizations that have sought to popularize their systems. However, Windows has persevered, and as of 2024 it

This is an alphabetically ordered list of women artists born before the 20th century.(See also painting; sculpture;

The following is an alphabetically ordered list of women who made significant contributions to

This is an alphabetically ordered list of World Heritage sites—sites that have “outstanding universal value”—as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Where possible, site names are linked to relevant Britannica content. In some cases spelling

This is a list of zoos, also called zoological parks or zoological gardens, ordered alphabetically by country. (See also

price index: Adjusting for biases: …they may be based on list prices rather than actual transactions prices. List prices probably are changed less frequently than the actual prices at which goods are sold; they may represent only an initial base of negotiation, a seller’s asking price rather than an actual price. One study has shown…

LISP, a computer programming language developed about 1960 by John McCarthy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). LISP was founded on the mathematical theory of recursive functions (in which a function appears in its own definition). A LISP program is a function applied to data,

LISP, a computer programming language developed about 1960 by John McCarthy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). LISP was founded on the mathematical theory of recursive functions (in which a function appears in its own definition). A LISP program is a function applied to data,

list system, a method of voting for several electoral candidates, usually members of the same political party, with one mark of the ballot. It is used to elect the parliaments of many western European countries, including Switzerland, Italy, the Benelux countries, and Germany. Electors vote for one

Benjamin List is a German chemist who was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on asymmetric organocatalysis. He shared the prize with British chemist David MacMillan. List received a degree in chemistry from the Free University of Berlin in 1993 and a doctorate in the same

Friedrich List was a German-U.S. economist who believed tariffs on imported goods would stimulate domestic development. List also supported the free exchange of domestic goods, and he gained prominence as founder and secretary of an association of middle and southern German industrialists who

Friedrich List was a German-U.S. economist who believed tariffs on imported goods would stimulate domestic development. List also supported the free exchange of domestic goods, and he gained prominence as founder and secretary of an association of middle and southern German industrialists who

swastika: …a poet and nationalist ideologist Guido von List had suggested the swastika as a symbol for all anti-Semitic organizations; and when the National Socialist Party was formed in 1919–20, it adopted it. On September 15, 1935, the black swastika on a white circle with a red background became the national…

John A. List is an American economist who made novel contributions to the fields of experimental and behavioral economics. He helped to popularize the use of field experiments as viable tools for analyzing a broad set of economic questions. In 2011 he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of

John A. List is an American economist who made novel contributions to the fields of experimental and behavioral economics. He helped to popularize the use of field experiments as viable tools for analyzing a broad set of economic questions. In 2011 he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of

Battle of Stalingrad: …Group A (under Field Marshal Wilhelm List) and Army Group B (under Bock). Within days, Bock was replaced at the head of Army Group B by Field Marshal Maximilian von Weichs. The division of forces placed tremendous pressure on an already-strained logistical support system. It also caused a gap between…

Alberto Lista was a Spanish poet and critic considered to be the foremost member of the second Sevillian school of late 18th-century writers who espoused the tenets of Neoclassicism. At age 20, Lista held the chair of mathematics at a college in Sevilla (Seville); later (1807) he assumed the chair

Alberto Lista was a Spanish poet and critic considered to be the foremost member of the second Sevillian school of late 18th-century writers who espoused the tenets of Neoclassicism. At age 20, Lista held the chair of mathematics at a college in Sevilla (Seville); later (1807) he assumed the chair

fillet, (from Latin filum, “thread”), in architecture, the characteristically rectangular or square ribbonlike bands that separate moldings and ornaments. Fillets are common in classical architecture (in which they also may be found between the flutings of columns) and in Gothic architecture. In

Beyoncé: Acting career and soundtracks: …Award and her song “Listen” for an Academy Award. She later starred in Cadillac Records (2008), in which she portrayed singer Etta James, and the thriller Obsessed (2009) before providing the voice of a fairylike forest queen in the animated Epic (2013).

Marlon Brando: …the basis of the documentary Listen to Me Marlon (2015).

Wyndham Lewis: …he became art critic for The Listener, a publication of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Until his sight failed in 1951, Lewis produced a memorable series of articles for that journal, praising several young British artists, such as Michael Ayrton and Francis Bacon, who later became famous. Lewis also wrote a…

Steve Buscemi: Directing and other activities: …Buscemi helmed his fifth movie, The Listener, about a volunteer at a telephone hotline.

Joseph Lister was a British surgeon and medical scientist who was the founder of antiseptic medicine and a pioneer in preventive medicine. While his method, based on the use of antiseptics, is no longer employed, his principle—that bacteria must never gain entry into an operation wound—remains the

Joseph Jackson Lister was an English amateur opticist whose discoveries played an important role in perfecting the objective lens system of the microscope, elevating that instrument to the status of a serious scientific tool. Lister discovered a method of combining lenses that greatly improved

Joseph Lister was a British surgeon and medical scientist who was the founder of antiseptic medicine and a pioneer in preventive medicine. While his method, based on the use of antiseptics, is no longer employed, his principle—that bacteria must never gain entry into an operation wound—remains the

Earth sciences: William Smith and faunal succession: In 1683 the zoologist Martin Lister proposed to the Royal Society that a new sort of map be drawn showing the areal distribution of the different kinds of British “soiles” (vegetable soils and underlying bedrock). The work proposed by Lister was not accomplished until 132 years later, when William…

epigenomics: Research tools of epigenomics: In 2009 American researcher Ryan Lister and colleagues reported the first success in using this approach to investigate epigenetic changes across whole genomes. The researchers produced a single-nucleotide-resolution map of 5′-methylcytosines in the genomes of human embryonic stem cells, which are pluripotent (capable of giving rise to each of…

Samuel Cunliffe Lister, 1st Baron Masham was an English inventor whose contributions included a wool-combing machine that helped to lower the price of clothing and a silk-combing machine that utilized silk waste. In 1838 Samuel and his brother John opened a worsted mill in Manningham. He had worked

Joseph Lister was a British surgeon and medical scientist who was the founder of antiseptic medicine and a pioneer in preventive medicine. While his method, based on the use of antiseptics, is no longer employed, his principle—that bacteria must never gain entry into an operation wound—remains the

twayblade: … (including the former twayblade genus Listera) are found throughout north temperate regions. Each flower has a large forked lip. Many species have an unusual pollination mechanism by which pollinia (masses of pollen grains) are glued to a visiting insect with an explosive force. The frightened insect then leaves and transfers…

twayblade: The lesser twayblade (N. cordata), also widespread in Eurasia, has heart-shaped leaves.

twayblade: The common twayblade (N. ovata), found throughout Eurasia, has small green flowers and broad egg-shaped leaves. The lesser twayblade (N. cordata), also widespread in Eurasia, has heart-shaped leaves.

listeriosis: …disease caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The bacterium has been isolated from humans and from more than 50 species of wild and domestic animals, including mammals, birds, fish, crustaceans, and ticks. It has also been isolated from environmental sources such as animal silage, soil, plants,

Gerard Barnes Lambert: …marketed his father’s invention of Listerine mouthwash by making bad breath a social disgrace.

listeriosis, disease caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The bacterium has been isolated from humans and from more than 50 species of wild and domestic animals, including mammals, birds, fish, crustaceans, and ticks. It has also been isolated from environmental sources such as animal

agricultural technology: Primary tillage equipment: …said to be bedded or listed.

Möbius strip: August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing, in 1858. See also Klein bottle.

Sonny Liston was an American boxer who was world heavyweight boxing champion from September 25, 1962, when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round in Chicago, until February 25, 1964, when he stopped fighting Cassius Clay (afterward Muhammad Ali) before the seventh round at Miami Beach,

anesthetic: Anesthetics through history: …a leg amputation performed by Robert Liston at University College Hospital in London. In Britain, official royal sanction was given to anesthetics by Queen Victoria, who accepted chloroform from her physician, John Snow, when giving birth to her eighth child, Prince Leopold, in 1853.

Sonny Liston was an American boxer who was world heavyweight boxing champion from September 25, 1962, when he knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round in Chicago, until February 25, 1964, when he stopped fighting Cassius Clay (afterward Muhammad Ali) before the seventh round at Miami Beach,

Władysław Orkan: Listy ze wsi, 2 vol. (1925–27; “Letters from a Village”), contains sociological reflections on Poland’s immediate condition and the country’s prospects.

Lisu, ethnic group who numbered more than 630,000 in China in the early 21st century. They are an official minority of China. The Lisu have spread southward from Yunnan province as far as Myanmar (Burma) and northern Thailand. The Chinese distinguish between Black Lisu, White Lisu, and Flowery

Sino-Tibetan languages: Tibeto-Burman languages: (Lolo), Hani, Lahu, Lisu, Kachin (Jingpo), Kuki-Chin, the obsolete Xixia (Tangut), and other languages. The Tibetan writing system (which dates from the 7th century) and the Burmese (dating from the 11th century) are derived from the Indo-Aryan (Indic) tradition. The Xixia system (developed in the 11th–13th century in…

Lysychansk: …at the Cossack village of Lisya Balka, which dated from 1710. It was not until 1795, however, that Lysychansk was established as the first coal-mining settlement of the region. In addition to coal mining, industries have included the underground gasification of coal, chemical production (especially soda making), glassmaking, and petroleum…

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian piano virtuoso and composer. Among his many notable compositions are his 12 symphonic poems, two (completed) piano concerti, several sacred choral works, and a great variety of solo piano pieces. Liszt’s father, Ádám Liszt, was an official in the service of Prince

Franz Liszt: Youth and early training: Liszt’s father, Ádám Liszt, was an official in the service of Prince Nicolas Eszterházy, whose palace in Eisenstadt was frequented by many celebrated musicians. Ádám Liszt was a talented amateur musician who played the cello in the court concerts. By the time Franz was five years old,…

Cosima Wagner was the wife of the composer Richard Wagner and director of the Bayreuth Festivals from his death in 1883 to 1908. Cosima was the illegitimate daughter of the composer-pianist Franz Liszt and the countess Marie d’Agoult, who also bore Liszt two other children. Liszt later

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian piano virtuoso and composer. Among his many notable compositions are his 12 symphonic poems, two (completed) piano concerti, several sacred choral works, and a great variety of solo piano pieces. Liszt’s father, Ádám Liszt, was an official in the service of Prince

Ken Russell: His later films include Lisztomania (1975), Altered States (1980), Crimes of Passion (1984), Whore (1991), and the musical horror-comedy The Fall of the Louse of Usher (2002).

Dominique Rolin: Le Lit (1960; “The Bed”), a woman’s account of her husband’s death, shows the influence of the French nouveau roman (see antinovel) and was filmed in 1982 by the Belgian director Marion Hänsel. The monologues of La Maison, la forêt (1965; “The House, the Forest”)…

Ate: …later sent to earth the Litai (“Prayers”), his old and crippled daughters, who followed Ate and repaired the harm done by her.

mantid: … is widely distributed), Litaneutria (L. minor, a small western species, is the sole mantid native to Canada), and Thesprotia and Oligonicella (both very slender forms). M. religiosa, Iris oratoria, Tenodera angustipennis, and T. aridifolia sinensis have been introduced into North America. The last species is the familiar Chinese mantid,…

Litani River, chief river of Lebanon, rising in a low divide west of Baalbek and flowing southwestward through the Bekaa valley between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains. Near Marjayoun, it bends sharply west and cuts a spectacular gorge up to 900 feet (275 meters) deep through the Lebanon

Maroni River: …course is known as the Litani in Suriname, or Itany in French Guiana; its middle course, along which there is placer gold mining, is called the Lawa, or Aoua. Shallow-draft vessels can penetrate 60 miles (100 km) upstream from the river’s mouth; beyond that point there are many waterfalls and…

Lebanon: Resources and power: The Litani River hydroelectric project generates electricity and has increased the amount of irrigated land for agriculture. Lebanon’s power networks and facilities were damaged during the country’s civil war and by Israeli air strikes carried out during the periodic warfare of the late 20th and early…

Litani River, chief river of Lebanon, rising in a low divide west of Baalbek and flowing southwestward through the Bekaa valley between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains. Near Marjayoun, it bends sharply west and cuts a spectacular gorge up to 900 feet (275 meters) deep through the Lebanon

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Early maturity: …for the church was the Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento (K 243), which embraces a wide range of styles (fugues, choruses of considerable dramatic force, florid arias, and a plainchant setting). The instrumental works included divertimentos, concertos, and serenades, notably the Haffner (K 250), which in its use of instruments…

Lithuania: Finance: The litas, the national currency, which had been introduced to Lithuania in 1922, was restored in 1993. In January 2015 Lithuania became the 19th country to adopt the euro as its official currency. The country’s central bank is the Bank of Lithuania. All state-owned banks in…

Hermann Sudermann: …girl, and Litauische Geschichten (1917; The Excursion to Tilsit), a collection of stories dealing with the simple villagers of his native region, are notable. Das Bilderbuch meiner Jugend (1922; The Book of My Youth) is a vivid account of his early years in East Prussia.

Litchfield, town (township), Litchfield county, northwestern Connecticut, U.S. It includes the boroughs of Litchfield and Bantam. The lands that became Litchfield were purchased from the Tunxis Indians in 1715–16. The town, named for Lichfield, England, and incorporated in 1719, was settled in

Litchfield, county, northwestern Connecticut, U.S. It consists of a hilly upland region bordered to the west by New York state and to the north by Massachusetts. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail passes through the western portion of the county. Litchfield has the largest area of any county in

Sarah Pierce: institutions for women, Litchfield Female Academy.

Tapping Reeve: In 1784 Reeve founded the Litchfield Law School, which was the first of its kind in the United States. (Previously, legal training could be acquired in the United States only by apprenticeship.) He was the school’s sole teacher until 1798, when he took on an associate. Before it closed in…

Paul W. Litchfield was an American industrialist who was president (1926–40) and chairman of the board (1930–58) of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, a firm that he helped develop into a worldwide operation. Litchfield graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1896 in chemical

Paul W. Litchfield was an American industrialist who was president (1926–40) and chairman of the board (1930–58) of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, a firm that he helped develop into a worldwide operation. Litchfield graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1896 in chemical

lychee, (Litchi chinensis), evergreen tree of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), grown for its edible fruit. Lychee is native to Southeast Asia and has been a favourite fruit of the Cantonese since ancient times. The fruit is usually eaten fresh but can also be canned or dried. The flavour of the

lychee, (Litchi chinensis), evergreen tree of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), grown for its edible fruit. Lychee is native to Southeast Asia and has been a favourite fruit of the Cantonese since ancient times. The fruit is usually eaten fresh but can also be canned or dried. The flavour of the

litre (l), unit of volume in the metric system, equal to one cubic decimetre (0.001 cubic metre). From 1901 to 1964 the litre was defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water at 4 °C (39.2 °F) and standard atmospheric pressure; in 1964 the original, present value was reinstated. One litre is

literacy, capacity to communicate using inscribed, printed, or electronic signs or symbols for representing language. Literacy is customarily contrasted with orality (oral tradition), which encompasses a broad set of strategies for communicating through oral and aural media. In real world

literacy test, exam for assessing a person’s ability to read and write. In addition to evaluating students in the classroom, literacy tests have historically been used by some countries to exclude people of a particular race or social class from voting or immigrating. Voting officials used the

Christianity: Western Catholic Christianity: Later, in the Literal Commentary on Genesis, he introduced a triple classification of visions—corporeal, spiritual (i.e., imaginative), and intellectual—that influenced later mystics for centuries. Although he was influenced by Neoplatonist philosophers such as Plotinus, Augustine did not speak of personal union with God in this life. His teaching,…

Roman law: Delict and contract: The literal contract was a type of fictitious loan formed by an entry in the creditor’s account book; it was comparatively unimportant and was obsolete by Justinian’s day. The verbal contract required set words or patterns of words to be spoken. The stipulatio was the most…

literal interpretation, in hermeneutics, the assertion that a biblical text is to be interpreted according to the “plain meaning” conveyed by its grammatical construction and historical context. The literal meaning is held to correspond to the intention of the authors. St. Jerome, an influential

history of publishing: Continental Europe: In Czechoslovakia the Literárne Listy played a prominent part in the freedom movement of 1968 and was later suppressed at Soviet insistence, along with the Reportér and Student, leading to the start of several underground magazines. Sinn und Form (founded 1949), a Marxist critical journal in Berlin, was…

academy: Literary academies sprang up throughout Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries; the most famous of these was the Crusca Academy, founded in Florence by A.F. Grazzini in 1582.

history of publishing: The first literary agents: A new factor at this time, which was to change the financial climate for fiction publishers in particular, was the advent of the literary agent. The first agent began business in 1875, and between 1900 and 1914 many more appeared. Reasonable though it…

Arabic language: Classical Arabic, in which most pre-modern literary works were composed, closely approaches that language. Modern Standard Arabic, which differs minutely from Classical Arabic in stylistic and lexical considerations, is used in most publications ranging from newspapers to novels and in formal broadcasts such as news…

Bret Easton Ellis: Literary stardom: ” The Literary Brat Pack Named for the group of 1980s actors known as the Brat Pack, the Literary Brat Pack was a group of young writers who shot to fame in the 1980s and ’90s. Some of the writers associated with the group…

Edward Gibbon: Life: …he was elected to the Club, the brilliant circle that the painter Sir Joshua Reynolds had formed round the writer and lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson. Although Johnson’s biographer, James Boswell, openly detested Gibbon, and it may be inferred that Johnson disliked him, Gibbon took an active part in the Club…

Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope: …responsible for passage of the Literary Copyright Act of 1842, which, in part, provided that books be protected by copyright for the life of the author plus seven years. He was a trustee of the British Museum and in 1856 proposed the foundation of a National Portrait Gallery; its creation…

literary criticism, the reasoned consideration of literary works and issues. It applies, as a term, to any argumentation about literature, whether or not specific works are analyzed. Plato’s cautions against the risky consequences of poetic inspiration in general in his Republic are thus often

history of publishing: Reader’s Digest magazine: …the United States were the Literary Digest (1890–1938), started by two former Lutheran ministers, Isaac K. Funk and Adam W. Wagnalls; the Review of Reviews (1890–1937), founded by Albert Shaw to condense material about world affairs; and Frank Munsey’s Scrap Book (1906–12), “a granary for the gleanings of literature.” The…

genre, a distinctive type or category of literary composition, such as the epic, tragedy, comedy, novel, and short story. Despite critics’ attempts to systematize the art of literature, such categories must retain a degree of flexibility, for they can break down on closer scrutiny. For example,

book club: …Book-of-the-Month Club (1926) and the Literary Guild (1927) were the first such enterprises, the former distributing more than 200,000,000 new copies of fiction and nonfiction in its first 40 years, especially to areas where there were few bookstores. Book clubs—and similar marketing ventures patterned after them—usually use a technique called…

Canadian literature: Modern period, 1900–60: …the first edition of the Literary History of Canada (1965), called the “garrison mentality”—were being broken and cast off.

Moses Coit Tyler: …the next year the monumental Literary History of the American Revolution, 2 vol. (1897). A trailblazing intellectual history of the period between 1763 and 1783, it concentrated on essayists, pamphleteers, and satirists, thus broadening the scope of historical research. In part influenced by the German school of cultural history, the…

Reynold Alleyne Nicholson: His Literary History of the Arabs (1907) remains a standard work on that subject in English; while his many text editions and translations of Ṣūfī writings, culminating in his eight-volume Mathnawi of Jalalu’ddin Rumi (1925–40), eminently advanced the study of Muslim mystics. He combined exact scholarship…

Matthew Arnold: Arnold as critic: …in the second essay, “The Literary Influence of Academies,” in which he dwells upon “the note of provinciality” in English literature, caused by remoteness from a “centre” of correct knowledge and correct taste. To realize how much Arnold widened the horizons of criticism requires only a glance at the titles…

Stephen Leacock: …with the beguiling fantasies of Literary Lapses (1910) and Nonsense Novels (1911). Leacock’s humour is typically based on a comic perception of social foibles and the incongruity between appearance and reality in human conduct, and his work is characterized by the invention of lively comic situations. Most renowned are his…

history of publishing: Literary and scientific magazines: The critical review developed strongly in the 19th century, often as an adjunct to a book-publishing business. It became a forum for the questions of the day—political, literary, and artistic—to which many great figures contributed. There were also many magazines with…

Samuel Johnson: The Literary Magazine: From 1756 onward Johnson wrote harsh criticism and satire of England’s policy in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63) fought against France (and others) in North America, Europe, and India. This work appeared initially in a new journal he was editing, The Literary…

Mongol language: Known as Classical, or Literary, Mongolian, the written language generally represents the language as it was spoken in the era of Genghis Khan and differs in many respects from the present-day spoken language, although some colloquial features were introduced into Classical Mongolian in the 19th century. Though…

Canadian literature: The literary movement of 1860: …Mouvement Littéraire de Québec (Literary Movement of Quebec). Often congregating at the bookstore of poet Octave Crémazie, its dozen members shared patriotic, conservative, and strongly Roman Catholic convictions about the survival of French Canada. Their spokesman, Henri-Raymond Casgrain, promoted a messianic view of the spiritual mission of French Canadians…

Malcolm Cowley: His Exile’s Return: A Narrative of Ideas (1934; rev. ed. published 1951 under the subtitle A Literary Odyssey of the 1920’s) is an important social and literary history of the expatriate American writers of the 1920s. In it he signaled the importance of their rediscovery of…