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sword dance ... Symbolism

sword dance folk dance by men, with swords or swordlike objects, displaying themes such as human and animal sacrifice for fertility, battle mime, and defense against evil spirits. There are several types. In linked-sword, or hilt-and-point, dances, each performer holds the hilt of his own sword and the point of that of ... Sword of Honour trilogy of novels by Evelyn Waugh, published originally as Men at Arms (1952), Officers and Gentlemen (1955), and Unconditional Surrender (1961; U.S. title, The End of the Battle). Waugh reworked the novels and published them collectively in one volume as Sword of Honour in 1965. sword swallowing a magician's trick dating back to ancient Greece and Rome, involving the swallowing of a sword without bodily injury. Capuleius, in his Metamorphoseon, tells of seeing the trick in Athens, performed by a juggler on horseback. In reality, sword swallowing is not an illusion or trick. Those who practice it ... swordfish (Xiphias gladius), prized food and game fish, probably the single species constituting the family Xiphiidae (order Perciformes), found in warm and temperate oceans around the world. The swordfish, an elongated, scaleless fish, has a tall dorsal fin, and a long sword, used in slashing at prey fishes, extends from its ... swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri), popular tropical fish of the live-bearer (q.v.) family Poeciliidae (order Atheriniformes). The swordtail is an elongated fish, growing to about 13 centimetres (5 inches) long and characterized, in the male, by a long, swordlike extension of the lower tail fin lobe. The fish is closely related to the ... syadvada in Jaina metaphysics, the doctrine that all judgments are conditional, holding good only in certain conditions, circumstances, or senses, expressed by the word syat (Sanskrit: "may be"). The ways of looking at a thing (called naya) are infinite in number. Sybaris ancient Greek city in southern Italy situated on the Gulf of Tarentum, near present Corigliano, Italy, known for its wealth and the luxury of its inhabitants, which contributed to the modern meaning of "sybaritic." Founded c. 720 BC by Achaeans and Troezenians in a fertile area, the city prospered quickly. ... Sybel, Heinrich von German historian who departed from the dispassionate manner of his teacher Leopold von Ranke and made himself a spokesman of nationalistic political Prussianism. sycamore any of several distinct trees. In the United States it refers especially to the American plane tree (q.v.). The sycamore of the Bible is better termed sycamore fig (see also fig), notable for its use by ancient Egyptians to make mummy cases. The sycamore maple, or mock plane (Acer pseudoplatanus), ... Sydenham (of Sydenham and Toronto), Charles Poulett Thomson, Baron merchant and statesman who, as British governor general of Canada in 1839-41, helped to develop that country's basic institutions of government. Sydenham chorea a neurological disorder characterized by irregular and involuntary movements of muscle groups in various parts of the body that follow streptococcal infection. The name St. Vitus Dance derives from the late Middle Ages, when persons with the disease attended the chapels of St. Vitus, who was believed to have curative ... Sydenham, Thomas physician recognized as a founder of clinical medicine and epidemiology. Because he emphasized detailed observations of patients and maintained accurate records, he has been called "the English Hippocrates." Sydney city, capital of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Located on Australia's southeastern coast, Sydney is the country's largest city and, with its magnificent harbour and strategic position, is also one of the most important ports in the South Pacific. In the early 19th century, when it was still ... Sydney former city, ocean port, and since 1995 a constituent component of Cape Breton regional municipality, northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It lies on the southeastern arm of Sydney Harbour at the mouth of the Sydney River, on eastern Cape Breton Island. Sydney 2000 Olympic Games athletic festival held in Sydney that took place Sept. 15-Oct. 1, 2000. The Sydney Games were the 24th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games. Sydney Festival large annual performing- and visual-arts festival held during three weeks in January in Sydney, Austl. It features music, dance, and a variety of theatrical performances. Sydney Film Festival film festival held annually in Sydney in June. It features a diverse range of movies from around the world. Sydney Morning Herald, The daily newspaper published in Sydney, Australia's oldest and one of its most influential papers. Sydney Opera House opera house located on Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), New South Wales, Australia. Its unique use of a series of gleaming white sail-shaped shells as its roof structure makes it one of the most-photographed buildings in the world. Sydney, University of coeducational institution of higher learning in Sydney, nominally private but supported financially by both the Commonwealth of Australia and New South Wales. Founded in 1850, it is Australia's oldest university as well as its largest. syenite any of a class of intrusive igneous rocks essentially composed of an alkali feldspar and a ferromagnesian mineral. A special group of alkali syenites is characterized by the presence of a feldspathoid mineral such as nepheline, leucite, cancrinite, or sodalite (see nepheline syenite). Chemically, syenites contain a moderate amount of ... Syers, Madge Cave English figure skater who was the first woman to compete at the highest level of international figure skating. At the 1908 Olympic Games in London, she won the first Olympic gold medal awarded in women's figure skating, as well as the bronze medal for pairs with her husband and coach, ... Syeverodonetsk city, eastern Ukraine, in the valley of the Donets River. The city was founded in 1934 as the site of a new chemical complex, part of which was evacuated eastward during World War II. In 1951 and 1958 additional chemical industries were added, based on coke, and the complex has ... Sykes, Eric British comedy writer and performer whose long career included stints writing for the popular radio program The Goon Show and for television's Sykes, in which he also starred. Sykes, Gresham M. American criminologist known for his contributions to the study of delinquency and prisons. Sykes, Sir Mark, 6th Baronet diplomat who represented Great Britain in the so-called Sykes-Picot negotiations (1915-16) concerning the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. Sykes-Picot Agreement (May 9, 1916), secret convention made during World War I between Great Britain and France, with the assent of imperial Russia, for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. The agreement led to the division of Turkish-held Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine into various French- and British-administered areas. The agreement took ... Syktyvkar city and capital of Komi republic, northwestern Russia. It lies at the confluence of the Vychegda and Sysola rivers. It was founded in 1586 as Ust-Sysolsk and was made a city in 1780, but its remoteness hindered growth, and in fact it was used as a place of exile. In ... Sylacauga city, Talladega county, central Alabama, U.S. It is located at the southwestern corner of Talladega National Forest (eastern section) in the Coosa River valley, about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Birmingham. The area was visited by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540 and was inhabited by the Creek ... Sylhet city, northeastern Bangladesh. It lies along the right bank of the Surma River. The most important town in the Surma River valley, it is connected by road and rail with Comilla, Chhatak, and Habiganj, by road with Assam and Meghalaya (both in India), and by air with Dhaka and several ... syllabary a set of written symbols used to represent the syllables of the words of a language. Writing systems that use syllabaries wholly or in part include Japanese, Cherokee, the ancient Cretan scripts (Linear A and Linear B), and various Indic and cuneiform writing systems. Some syllabaries include separate symbols for ... syllabic verse in prosody, the metrical system that is most commonly used in English poetry. It is based on both the number of stresses, or accents, and the number of syllables in each line of verse. A line of iambic pentameter verse, for example, consists of five feet, each of which is ... syllable a segment of speech that consists of a vowel, with or without one or more accompanying consonant sounds immediately preceding or following-for example, a, I, out, too, cap, snap, check. A syllabic consonant, such as the final n sound in button and widen, also constitutes a syllable. Closed (checked) syllables ... syllogism in logic, a valid deductive argument having two premises and a conclusion. The traditional type is the categorical syllogism in which both premises and the conclusion are simple declarative statements that are constructed using only three simple terms between them, each term appearing twice (as a subject and as a ... syllogistic in logic, the formal analysis of logical terms and operators and the structures that make it possible to infer true conclusions from given premises. Developed in its original form by Aristotle in his Prior Analytics (Analytica priora) about 350 BC, syllogistic represents the earliest branch of formal logic. sylph an imaginary or elemental being that inhabits the air and is mortal but soulless. The existence of such beings was first postulated by the medieval physician Paracelsus, who associated a different being with each of the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water). Compare gnome; undine. Sylt largest and northernmost of the North Frisian Islands, in the North Sea, Schleswig-Holstein Land (state), Germany. Sylt, which occupies an area of 38 square miles (99 square km), is connected by rail with the mainland via the 7-mile- (11-km-) long Hindenburgdamm (causeway). Extending in length more than 22 miles (35 ... sylvanite a gold and silver telluride mineral [(Au,Ag)Te2] in which the ratio of gold to silver atoms is commonly close to 1:1. It is a member of the krennerite group of sulfides and is found associated with them in ore veins formed at low temperatures in Hungary, Australia, Canada, and the ... Sylvester (IV) antipope from 1105 to 1111. While the Investiture Controversy raged between the German king Henry V (later Holy Roman emperor) and Pope Paschal II, the imperialist faction, under Werner, margrave of Ancona, elected Maginulfo as successor to the imperialist antipope Albert (Aleric) on Nov. 18, 1105. He was the fourth ... Sylvester I, Saint pope from 314 to 335, whose long pontificate saw the beginnings of the Christian Roman Empire. Sylvester II French head of the Roman Catholic church (999-1003), renowned for his scholarly achievements, his advances in education, and his shrewd political judgment. He was the first Frenchman to become pope. Sylvester III pope from January 20 to February 10, 1045. Sylvester, James Joseph British mathematician who, with Arthur Cayley, was a cofounder of invariant theory, the study of properties that are unchanged (invariant) under some transformation, such as rotating or translating the coordinate axes. He also made significant contributions to number theory and elliptic functions. Sylvester, Josuah English poet-translator, best known as the translator of a popular biblical epic, the Divine Weekes and Workes. Translated from a French Protestant poet, Guillaume du Bartas, (1544-90), it appeared in sections in 1592 and complete in 1608. This epic on the creation, the fall of man, and other early parts ... Sylvie and Bruno novel for children by Lewis Carroll, published in 1889. The work evolved from his short story Bruno's Revenge, published in 1867 in Aunt Judy's Magazine. With its sequel, Sylvie and Bruno Concluded (1893), it was his final work for children. Sylviidae songbird family, order Passeriformes, consisting of numerous species of small dull-coloured active birds found in a variety of habitats. The group includes some species of Old World warblers and parrotbills. sylvite halide mineral, potassium chloride (KCl), the chief source of potassium. It is rarer than halite (sodium chloride) and occurs as soft, bitter-tasting, white or grayish, glassy cubes or as masses with halite and gypsum in evaporite deposits in the vicinity of Stassfurt, Ger., and in southwestern New Mexico, U.S. It ... Sylvius, Franciscus physician, physiologist, anatomist, and chemist who is considered the founder of the 17th-century iatrochemical school of medicine, which held that all phenomena of life and disease are based on chemical action. His studies helped shift medical emphasis from mystical speculation to a rational application of universal laws of physics and ... symbiosis any of several living arrangements between members of two different species, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism (qq.v.). Both positive (beneficial) and negative (unfavourable to harmful) associations are therefore included, and the members are called symbionts. symbol a communication element intended to simply represent or stand for a complex of person, object, group, or idea. Symbols may be presented graphically, as in the cross for Christianity and the red cross or crescent for the life-preserving agencies of Christian and Islamic countries (see Red Cross and Red Crescent; ... Symbolism a loosely organized literary and artistic movement that originated with a group of French poets in the late 19th century, spread to painting and the theatre, and influenced the European and American literatures of the 20th century to varying degrees. Symbolist artists sought to express individual emotional experience through the ...