Skip this Advertisement

A-Z Browse

  • NAND function (logic)
    ...indicate that two concepts are disjoint—i.e., having no basic concepts in common; in its propositional interpretation, it is equivalent to what became known in the 20th century as the “Sheffer stroke” function (also known to Peirce) meaning “neither . . . nor.” The universal negative proposition, “No A’s are B’s,” would becom...
  • Nand Kumar (Indian entrepreneur)
    ...by Hastings in a duel—returned to London in 1780, to continue his vendetta there. The conflict culminated with charges against Hastings of corruption by an Indian official, Nand Kumar (Nandakumar), and with the latter’s conviction before the supreme court of perjury and his execution under English law. The episode exposed the moral weakness of the council majority,......
  • Nand Lal (Sikh writer)
    The devotional works of Bhai Gurdas (1551–1637) and Nand Lal (1633–1715) are the only texts aside from the Granths that can be recited in the gurdwaras. Their compositions are more than just devotional, including social and historical commentary. This was particularly true of the works of Bhai Gurdas, whose 40 lengthy......
  • Nanda Bayin (king of Myanmar)
    king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma whose reign (1581–99) ended with the dismemberment of the empire established by his father, Bayinnaung....
  • Nanda Devi (mountain, India)
    ...great Himalayan peaks. A Soviet team climbed Stalin Peak (24,590 feet), later renamed Communism Peak, in 1933; a German party succeeded on Siniolchu (22,600 feet) in 1936; and the English climbed Nanda Devi (25,643 feet) the same year. The Alpine Journal of London, a reliable chronicler of ascents, lists no peaks ascended for the first time between 1940–47, a reflection, of......
  • Nanda Devi Peak (mountain, India)
    ...great Himalayan peaks. A Soviet team climbed Stalin Peak (24,590 feet), later renamed Communism Peak, in 1933; a German party succeeded on Siniolchu (22,600 feet) in 1936; and the English climbed Nanda Devi (25,643 feet) the same year. The Alpine Journal of London, a reliable chronicler of ascents, lists no peaks ascended for the first time between 1940–47, a reflection, of......
  • Nanda dynasty (Indian dynasty)
    family that ruled Magadha, in northern India, between c. 343 and 321 bc. The Nanda dynasty immediately preceded the dynasty of the Mauryas, and, as with all pre-Maurya dynasties, what is known about it is a mixture of fact and legend. Indigenous traditions, both Brahmanical and Jaina, suggest that the founder of the dynasty, Mahapadma (who was also known as ...
  • Nanda, Gulzarilal (Indian politician)
    Indian politician who twice served briefly as interim prime minister, in 1964 following the death of Jawaharlal Nehru and in 1966 upon the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri (b. July 4, 1898, Badoki Gosain village, Gujranwala, India [now in Pakistan]--d. Jan. 15, 1998, Ahmadabad, India)....
  • Nanda, I. C. (Indian dramatist)
    ...in English productions. Norah Richards, an Irish-born actress who came to the Punjab in 1911, produced in 1914 the first Punjabi play, Dulhan (“The Bride”), written by her pupil I.C. Nanda. For 50 years she promoted rural drama and inspired actors and producers, including Prithvi Raj Kapoor....
  • Nandabayin (king of Myanmar)
    king of the Toungoo dynasty of Burma whose reign (1581–99) ended with the dismemberment of the empire established by his father, Bayinnaung....
  • Nandai-mon (gateway, Nara, Japan)
    ...there is reference to careful anatomic understanding, this understanding is often rendered in extreme statement. The huge guardian figures created by Unkei and other Kei artists to flank the Nandai-mon (“Great South Gate”) at Tōdai Temple are the epitome of this style. With bulging eyes, limbs lined with tributaries of protruding veins, and theatrical poses, these and......
  • Nandakumar (maharaja of Bengal)
    ...encouraged Indians to bring accusations of malpractices against him, while his friends used various methods to deter such accusations. The most notorious of these episodes concerned one Maharaja Nandakumar, who made accusations against the governor-general but was in his turn accused of forgery and hanged for it. Hastings was certainly not guilty of procuring a judicial murder, but recent......
  • Nanded (India)
    town, east-central Mahārāshtra state, western India. It lies on the banks of the Godāvari River. Its name is derived from Nānda tat (“Nānda border”), a term that refers to the boundary of the Magadha kingdom during the 7th century bc. Primarily a commercial centre, it also has cotton spinning and weaving mills. The town is known...
  • Nander (India)
    town, east-central Mahārāshtra state, western India. It lies on the banks of the Godāvari River. Its name is derived from Nānda tat (“Nānda border”), a term that refers to the boundary of the Magadha kingdom during the 7th century bc. Primarily a commercial centre, it also has cotton spinning and weaving mills. The town is known...
  • Nandeva (people)
    a Guarani-speaking South American Indian people living in small, scattered villages throughout the Mato Grosso, Paraná, and São Paulo states of southeastern Brazil. In the second half of the 20th century, the Apapocuva probably numbered fewer than 500 individuals....
  • Nandi (Hindu mythology)
    bull vāhana (mount) of the Hindu god Śiva. Some scholars suggest that the bull was originally the zoomorphic form of Śiva, but from the Kuṣāṇa (Kushan) age onward (c. 1st century ad), he is identified as the god’s vehicle....
  • Nandi (people)
    Kalenjin-speaking people who inhabit the western part of the highlands of Kenya. Their dialect of Kalenjin is classified in the Nilotic branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family; they are distinct from the Nandi of Congo (Kinshasa), whose language is classified as Niger-Congo....
  • Nandi (Zulu princess)
    Shaka was the son of Senzangakona, chieftain of the Zulu, and Nandi, an orphaned princess of the neighbouring Langeni clan. Because his parents belonged to the same clan, their marriage violated Zulu custom, and the stigma of this extended to the child. The couple separated when Shaka was six, and Nandi took her son back to the Langeni, where he passed a fatherless boyhood among a people who......
  • Nandidae
    any of about 10 species of fishes in the family Nandidae (order Perciformes). All live in fresh water, although some species may enter brackish water. Their geographic distribution is circumtropical, including the Amazon River basin, western Africa, India, southeastern Asia, and the Malay Archipelago....
  • Nandikeshvara (Hindu mythology)
    bull vāhana (mount) of the Hindu god Śiva. Some scholars suggest that the bull was originally the zoomorphic form of Śiva, but from the Kuṣāṇa (Kushan) age onward (c. 1st century ad), he is identified as the god’s vehicle....
  • Nandikēśvara (Hindu mythology)
    bull vāhana (mount) of the Hindu god Śiva. Some scholars suggest that the bull was originally the zoomorphic form of Śiva, but from the Kuṣāṇa (Kushan) age onward (c. 1st century ad), he is identified as the god’s vehicle....
  • Nandinia (mammal)
    ...places, coming out to forage at night. Except for the arboreal palm civets, such as Paradoxurus (also known as toddy cat because of its fondness for palm juice, or “toddy”) and Nandinia, civets are mainly terrestrial. The otter civet (Cynogale bennetti), African civet (Viverra, sometimes Civettictis, civetta), and the rare Congo water civet......
  • Nandinia binotata (mammal)
    ...places, coming out to forage at night. Except for the arboreal palm civets, such as Paradoxurus (also known as toddy cat because of its fondness for palm juice, or “toddy”) and Nandinia, civets are mainly terrestrial. The otter civet (Cynogale bennetti), African civet (Viverra, sometimes Civettictis, civetta), and the rare Congo water civet.........
  • ñandú (bird group)
    either of two species of large, flightless birds in the family Rheidae, order Rheiformes. They are native to South America and are related to the ostrich and emu. The common rhea (Rhea americana; see ) is found in open country from northeastern Brazil southward to Argentina, while Darwin’s rhea (Pterocnemia pennata) lives from Peru southward to Patagonia, at the tip of the co...
  • nanduti (lace)
    (Guaraní Indian: “spider web”), type of lace introduced into Paraguay by the Spaniards. It is generally characterized by a spoke-like structure of foundation threads upon which many basic patterns are embroidered. This structure, resembling a spider web or the rays of the Sun, is usually made on a small circular cushion and is common in many Spanish countries. It is also foun...
  • Nanedi Vallis (canyon, Mars)
    ...of small valleys that resemble terrestrial drainage systems created by flowing water. Examples include Nirgal Vallis, located in the southern hemisphere north of the Argyre impact basin, and Nanedi Vallis, located just north of the equator near the east end of Valles Marineris. Scientists have proposed two alternative mechanisms for their formation, either the runoff of rainfall on the......
  • Nanfan, Sir Richard (English official)
    The son of a butcher of Ipswich, Wolsey was educated at the University of Oxford. In 1498 he was ordained a priest, and five years later he became chaplain to Sir Richard Nanfan, deputy lieutenant of Calais, who recommended him to King Henry VII (reigned 1485–1509). When Nanfan died in 1507, Wolsey became Henry VII’s chaplain and, shortly before the king’s death in April 1509 ...
  • nang-mchod (Tibetan Buddhist rite)
    in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies, pleasurable sense perceptions presented to honour tranquil deities. The offerings include a mirror (to please the sense of form, or sight); a bell or stringed musical instrument (hearing); incense, nutmeg, or scented flower (smell); sugar, a conch filled with curds, or the sacrificial cake gtor-ma (taste); and a piece of silk cloth (touch). The texts refer al...
  • Nanga Parbat (mountain, Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan)
    one of the world’s tallest mountains, 26,660 feet (8,126 metres) high, situated in the western Himalayas 17 miles (27 km) west-southwest of Astor, in the Pakistani-administered sector of the Kashmir region. The mountain’s steep south wall rises nearly 15,000 feet (4,600 metres) above the valley immediately below, and the north side drops about 23,000 feet (7,000 metres) to the Indus ...
  • Nanga Parbati I (mountain, Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan)
    one of the world’s tallest mountains, 26,660 feet (8,126 metres) high, situated in the western Himalayas 17 miles (27 km) west-southwest of Astor, in the Pakistani-administered sector of the Kashmir region. The mountain’s steep south wall rises nearly 15,000 feet (4,600 metres) above the valley immediately below, and the north side drops about 23,000 feet (7,000 metres) to the Indus ...
  • Nangarhār, University of (university, Jalālābād, Afghanistan)
    ...has been limited to two institutions: Kabul University, founded in 1946 by the incorporation of a number of faculties, the oldest of which is the faculty of medicine, established in 1932, and the University of Nangarhār, established in Jalālābād in 1963. The civil war interfered with their operation, especially during the 1990s and again during the U.S. military......
  • Nangeela River (river, Victoria, Australia)
    river in southwestern Victoria, Australia, rising on Mt. William in the Grampians east of Balmoral and flowing west and south to join its chief tributary, the Wannon River, at Casterton. It empties into Discovery Bay, where sand dunes have deflected its mouth, near the South Australian border, after a course of more than 280 mi (450 km). The river, although frequently dried up, is dammed to form ...
  • Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (province, Indonesia)
    semiautonomous province of Indonesia, forming the northern extremity of the island of Sumatra. Aceh is surrounded by water on three sides: the Indian Ocean to the west and north and the Strait of Malacca to the east. Its boundary with Sumatera Utara (North Sumatra) province to the southeast extends north-south from Salahaji on the northeaste...
  • Nangnang (ancient colony, Korea)
    one of four colonies (Nangnang, Chinbŏn, Imdun, and Hyŏnto) established in 108 bce by the emperor Wudi of the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) of China when he conquered the ancient Korean state of Wiman (later named Chosŏn). Nangnang, which occupied the northwestern portion of the Korean penins...
  • Nangnim Mountains (mountain range, North Korea)
    mountain range stretching from north to south, west of the Kaema Highlands, in central North Korea. The Nangnim Mountains form the watershed between Kwanbuk (the northeastern part of the Korean Peninsula) and Kwansŏ (the northwestern part). With average heights of approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 m), the Nangnim’s peaks include Mount Maengba (7,421 feet), Sobaek (9,...
  • Nangnim-sanmaek (mountain range, North Korea)
    mountain range stretching from north to south, west of the Kaema Highlands, in central North Korea. The Nangnim Mountains form the watershed between Kwanbuk (the northeastern part of the Korean Peninsula) and Kwansŏ (the northwestern part). With average heights of approximately 5,000 feet (1,500 m), the Nangnim’s peaks include Mount Maengba (7,421 feet), Sobaek (9,...
  • Nangpa La (pass, Asia)
    mountain, one of the world’s highest (26,906 feet [8,201 m]), in the Himalayas on the Nepalese–Tibetan (Chinese) border about 20 miles (30 km) northwest of Mt. Everest. The Nangpa La, a glacier saddle (pass) 19,050 feet high lying south of the peak, forms part of the trade route between Tibet and the valley of Khumbu. Glaciers and a bitter climate delayed the climbing of Cho Oyu unt...
  • nanhu (musical instrument)
    ...is played both as a solo instrument and in an orchestral setting. A higher-pitched version with a smaller resonator surface and shorter post is the gaohu, or nanhu. A larger, lower-pitched version of the erhu is called ......
  • “Nanhua zhenjing” (Daoist literature)
    ...not only is three times longer than the Analects of Confucius but also is topically and more coherently arranged. The same characteristic may be noticed in the authentic chapters of the Chuang-tzu, attributed to the Taoist sage Chuang-tzu, who “in paradoxical language, in bold words, and with subtle profundity, gave free play to his imagination and thought. . . . Although.....
  • Nanine (play by Voltaire)
    ...prodigue (1736), a variation of the prodigal son theme, he adapted William Wycherley’s satiric Restoration drama The Plain-Dealer to his purpose, entitling it La Prude; he based Nanine (1749) on a situation taken from Samuel Richardson’s novel Pamela, but all without success. The court spectacles he directed gave him a taste for scenic effects, a...
  • Naning War (British-Malayan history)
    (1831–32), disastrous attempt by the British to exact tribute from the Minangkabau people of the Malay state of Naning, near Malacca. Claiming to have inherited a right formerly held by the Dutch, British officials at Malacca demanded one-tenth of Naning’s annual crop in 1829. Naning’s ruler, Abdul Said, refused and defeated a British force sent against him...
  • Nanini, Giovanni Maria (Italian musician)
    Italian singer, teacher, and composer who was one of the better-known figures in late 16th-century European music....
  • Nanino, Giovanni Maria (Italian musician)
    Italian singer, teacher, and composer who was one of the better-known figures in late 16th-century European music....
  • Naniwa (ancient city, Japan)
    ...that ascribed to the semilegendary emperor Nintoku; the largest tomb of the Tumulus period, the 5th-century structure is surrounded by three moats and occupies some 80 acres (32 hectares). Ancient Naniwa—in what is now Ōsaka—was the site of palace or capital complexes intermittently from the early 5th to the mid-7th century, but in 710 it lost its position to Nara, the firs...
  • Nanjianzhou (China)
    city in north-central Fujian sheng (province), China. Nanping occupies an important position in the communications network of northern Fujian. It is situated on the northwest bank of the Min River at the place where that river is formed by the confluence of three major tributary systems—the Sha River, flowing from...
  • Nanjing (China)
    city, capital of Kiangsu sheng (province) in east-central China. It is a port on the Yangtze River and a major industrial and communications centre. Rich in history, it served seven times as the capital of regional empires, twice as the seat of revolutionary governments, once (during World War II) as the site of a puppet regime, and twice as the capital of a united China (the secon...
  • Nanjing (historical city, China)
    ...One of these was established by the Khitans, who, after destroying Youzhou, founded the Liao kingdom (907–1125) and built one of their capitals on approximately the same site, calling it Nanjing (“Southern Capital”) to distinguish it from other capitals in their Manchurian homeland. The Liao capital was bounded by a square wall with a perimeter of almost 14 miles (23 km)......
  • Nanjing Massacre (Chinese history)
    (December 1937–January 1938), mass killing and ravaging of Chinese citizens and capitulated soldiers by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army after its seizure of Nanjing, China, on Dec. 13, 1937, during the Sino-Japanese War that preceded World War II. The number of Chinese killed in the massacre has been subject to much debate, with most estimates ra...
  • Nanjing, Rape of (Chinese history)
    (December 1937–January 1938), mass killing and ravaging of Chinese citizens and capitulated soldiers by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army after its seizure of Nanjing, China, on Dec. 13, 1937, during the Sino-Japanese War that preceded World War II. The number of Chinese killed in the massacre has been subject to much debate, with most estimates ra...
  • Nanjing, Treaty of (China-United Kingdom [1842])
    ...arrived at the mouth of the Canton River to begin the Opium War. The Chinese capitulated in 1842 after the fleet reached the Yangtze, Shanghai fell, and Nanking was under British guns. The resulting Treaty of Nanking—the first in a series of commercial treaties China was forced to sign over the years—provided for: (1) cession of Hong Kong to the British crown; (2) the opening of f...
  • Nankan (island, East China Sea)
    small island under the jurisdiction of Taiwan in the East China Sea, lying off the Min River estuary of mainland China and about 130 miles (210 km) northwest of Chi-lung (Keelung), Taiwan. Matsu is the main island of a group of 19, the Matsu Islands, which constitute Lien-kiang (Lienchiang) hsien (county). The island has a hilly terrain of...
  • nankeen (cloth)
    durable, firm-textured cotton cloth originally made in China and now imitated in various countries. The name is derived from Nanjing, the city in which the cloth is said to have been originally manufactured....
  • Nankeen night heron (bird)
    ...bills and shorter legs and are more active in the twilight hours and at night. The black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) ranges over the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia; the Nankeen night heron (N. caledonicus) in Australia, New Caledonia, and the Philippines; and the yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea) from the eastern and central United......
  • Nanking (historical city, China)
    ...One of these was established by the Khitans, who, after destroying Youzhou, founded the Liao kingdom (907–1125) and built one of their capitals on approximately the same site, calling it Nanjing (“Southern Capital”) to distinguish it from other capitals in their Manchurian homeland. The Liao capital was bounded by a square wall with a perimeter of almost 14 miles (23 km)......
  • Nanking (China)
    city, capital of Kiangsu sheng (province) in east-central China. It is a port on the Yangtze River and a major industrial and communications centre. Rich in history, it served seven times as the capital of regional empires, twice as the seat of revolutionary governments, once (during World War II) as the site of a puppet regime, and twice as the capital of a united China (the secon...
  • Nanking Massacre (Chinese history)
    (December 1937–January 1938), mass killing and ravaging of Chinese citizens and capitulated soldiers by soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army after its seizure of Nanjing, China, on Dec. 13, 1937, during the Sino-Japanese War that preceded World War II. The number of Chinese killed in the massacre has been subject to much debate, with most estimates ra...
  • Nanking porcelain
    Chinese blue-and-white porcelain made for export during the Qing dynasty (especially in the reign of Kangxi, 1661–1722) at Jingdezhen. It was shipped to Europe in great quantity from the port of Nanking (Nanjing); as a result, Western dealers in the 19th century used the city’s name when referring to the porcelain....
  • Nanking salted duck (food, China)
    ...most renowned are the simple Ming tombs (of Ming emperors) and the magnificent Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, at the foot of Tzu-chin Hill. The gastronomic specialty of this ancient capital is the renowned Nanking salted duck. The duck is raised in ponds and lakes nearby. Other products from the Nanking area include handwoven silk (tzu-ching), particularly cloud brocades, which use every......
  • Nanking, Treaty of (China-United Kingdom [1842])
    ...arrived at the mouth of the Canton River to begin the Opium War. The Chinese capitulated in 1842 after the fleet reached the Yangtze, Shanghai fell, and Nanking was under British guns. The resulting Treaty of Nanking—the first in a series of commercial treaties China was forced to sign over the years—provided for: (1) cession of Hong Kong to the British crown; (2) the opening of f...
  • Nanking variant (Mandarin dialect)
    ...language. The second is the western variant, also known as the Chengdu or Upper Yangtze variant; this is spoken in the Sichuan Basin and in adjoining parts of southwestern China. The third is the southern variant, also known as the Nanjing or Lower Yangtze variant, which is spoken in northern Jiangsu and in southern and central Anhui. Some authorities also recognize a fourth variant,......
  • Nanking ware
    Chinese blue-and-white porcelain made for export during the Qing dynasty (especially in the reign of Kangxi, 1661–1722) at Jingdezhen. It was shipped to Europe in great quantity from the port of Nanking (Nanjing); as a result, Western dealers in the 19th century used the city’s name when referring to the porcelain....
  • Nankow (mountain pass, China)
    ...Plateau to the north, and the Liao River Plain in the southern region of the Northeast (historically Manchuria). A few passes, however, cut through the ranges—the most important being Juyong (northwest of Beijing), Gubei (northeast), and Shanhai (east in Hebei, on the Bo Hai)—and are so situated that all roads leading from Mongolia and the Northeast to the North China Plain......
  • Nanmadol (archaeological site, Pohnpei, Micronesia)
    In the lagoon on the eastern coast of Pohnpei is Nan Madol, or Nanmadol, a group of 92 prehistoric, artificial platform islands built in the lagoon and surrounded by man-made canals. Ruins of a town and ceremonial centre of the early 2nd millennium ce include tombs of former kings, belonging, according to tradition, to the Sau Deleur dynasty that once ruled the whole island....
  • Nanna (painting by Feuerbach)
    ...his two versions of Iphigeneia (1862, 1871). Perhaps his most important and original works are the formal, statuesque portraits he painted of the model Nanna Risi between 1860 and 1865 (e.g., Nanna, 1861) and the Raphaelesque likenesses he painted of his stepmother, Henriette Feuerbach....
  • Nanna (Mesopotamian god)
    in Mesopotamian religion, the god of the moon. Sin was the father of the sun god, Shamash (Sumerian: Utu), and, in some myths, of Ishtar (Sumerian: Inanna), goddess of Venus, and with them formed an astral triad of deities....
  • Nannaya Bhaṭṭa (Indian poet)
    Written materials in Telugu date from ad 633, and its literature begins with a version of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata by the Telugu writer Nannaya, dating from the 10th or 11th century. The Telugu script is derived from that of the Calūkya dynasty (6th century) and is related to that of Kannada....
  • Nannen, Henri (German journalist)
    German journalist who was one of the founders of the general-interest weekly magazine Stern, served as its editor, 1948-80, and was acting as its publisher when, in 1983, the magazine published what it believed to be Adolf Hitler’s diaries; the scandal that resulted when the diaries were revealed to be a hoax forced Nannen to resign (b. Dec. 25, 1913--d. Oct. 13, 1996)....
  • Nanni di Banco (Italian sculptor)
    Florentine sculptor whose works exemplify the stylistic transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance that occurred in Italy in the early 15th century....
  • Nanning (China)
    city and capital of the Zhuang Autonomous Region of Guangxi, China. The city is located in the south-central part of Guangxi on the north bank of the Yong River (the chief southern tributary of the Xi River system) and lies some 19 miles (30 km) below the confluence of the You and the Zuo rivers. The Yong River (which later becomes the Yu River) affords a good...
  • Nannochloropsis (algae genus)
    ...described, with probably more to be discovered; mostly small, pale green, and spherical; fewer than 15 species; Eustigmatos and Nannochloropsis.Class Phaeophyceae (brown algae or brown seaweeds)Range from microscopic forms to large......
  • Nannomys (rodent subgenus)
    The 19 species of subgenus Nannomys live throughout sub-Saharan Africa in many different habitats: sandy and stony deserts, open grasslands, heath, scrub, dry and wet savannas, lowland to montane tropical forests, swamp margins, and cultivated areas....
  • Nannorrhops (plant genus)
    ...at or below the surface of the soil and producing the crown at ground level, while others are high-climbing vines. Rare instances of regular branching (in Allagoptera, Chamaedorea, Hyphaene, Nannorrhops, Nypa, Vonitra) appear to involve equal or subequal division at the apex that results in a forking habit. The two newly formed branches may continue equally, or one may be overtopped......
  • Nannostomus beckfordi (fish)
    ...(family Hemiodontidae). Several species of pygmy pencil fish belong to the genus Nannostomus (family Lebiasinidae) and reach a length of 2.5 to 4 cm (1 to 2 inches). N. eques, N. beckfordi, and N. marginatus are common aquarium species....
  • Nannostomus eques (fish)
    ...aquarium fishes as Anostomus anostomus (family Anostomidae) and various species of Hemiodus (family Hemiodontidae). Several species of pygmy pencil fish belong to the genus Nannostomus (family Lebiasinidae) and reach a length of 2.5 to 4 cm (1 to 2 inches). N. eques, N. beckfordi, and N. marginatus are common aquarium species....
  • Nannostomus marginatus (fish)
    ...Several species of pygmy pencil fish belong to the genus Nannostomus (family Lebiasinidae) and reach a length of 2.5 to 4 cm (1 to 2 inches). N. eques, N. beckfordi, and N. marginatus are common aquarium species....
  • nanny (female goat)
    ...Related to the sheep, the goat is lighter of build, has horns that arch backward, a short tail, and straighter hair. Male goats, called rams or billys, usually have a beard. Females are called does or nannys, and immature goats are called kids. Wild goats include the ibex and markhor....
  • Nanny McPhee (film by Jones)
    ...(2003), based on Tony Kushner’s play about AIDS in the 1980s, she played a homeless woman. Thompson’s later notable movies include Love Actually (2003); Nanny McPhee (2005), which she also wrote; Stranger than Fiction (2006); and several film adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series....
  • nanny-goat orchid (plant)
    ...and drooping. The common donkey orchid (Diuris longifolia) bears from three to five flowers about 4 cm (1.5 inches) long. Other well-known species are cat’s face (D. filifolia) and nanny-goat orchid (D. laevis)....
  • nannyberry (plant)
    Other North American species are the southern black haw (V. rufidulum), similar but taller; the sheepberry, or nannyberry (V. lentago), with finely toothed, oval leaves; and the arrowwood (V. dentatum), with roundish to oval, coarsely toothed leaves. Laurustinus (V. tinus), a 3-metre-tall evergreen with oblong leaves, is native to the Mediterranean area. Sweet......
  • nanoelectromechanical system
    ...design and modeling tools, and the need for more reliable packaging. A current research focus is on exploring properties at nanometre dimensions (i.e., at billionths of a metre) for devices known as nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). At these scales the frequency of oscillation for structures increases (from megahertz up to gigahertz frequencies), offering new design possibilities (such as.....
  • nanofabrication
    Two very different paths are pursued. One is a top-down strategy of miniaturizing current technologies, while the other is a bottom-up strategy of building ever-more-complex molecular devices atom by atom. Top-down approaches are good for producing structures with long-range order and for making macroscopic connections, while bottom-up approaches are best suited for assembly and establishing......
  • nanometre (unit of measurement)
    ...high-energy gamma rays can be shorter than 10−16 metre, which is one-millionth of the diameter of an atom. Visible light and X rays are often described in units of angstroms or in nanometres. One angstrom (abbreviated by the symbol Å) is 10−10 metre, which is also the typical diameter of an atom. One nanometre (nm) is 10−9 metre. The....
  • Nanook of the North (film by Flaherty)
    When he was a boy, Flaherty’s family moved to Canada, and as he grew up he explored and photographed vast regions of the country’s northern territory. His first film, Nanook of the North (1922), a dramatic interpretation of the Eskimo way of life, was based on 16 months of living with them and filming their lives. His film was an international success, and its subjective prese...
  • nanoscale (measurement)
    the manipulation and manufacture of materials and devices on the scale of atoms or small groups of atoms. The “nanoscale” is typically measured in nanometres, or billionths of a metre (nanos, the Greek word for “dwarf,” being the source of the prefix), and materials built at this scale often exhibit distinctive physical and chemical...
  • nanosensor
    ...such traditional applications for physical sensing generally rely on microscale sensing devices, the advent of nanoscale materials and structures has led to new electronic, photonic, and magnetic nanosensors, sometimes known as “smart dust.” Because of their small size, nanosensors exhibit unprecedented speed and sensitivity, extending in some cases down to the detection of single...
  • nanotechnology
    the manipulation and manufacture of materials and devices on the scale of atoms or small groups of atoms. The “nanoscale” is typically measured in nanometres, or billionths of a metre (nanos, the Greek word for “dwarf,” being the source of the prefix), and materials built at this scale often exhibit distinctive physical and chemical...
  • nanotesla (physics)
    ...terms of the rate of change of potential, volts per metre (V/m). Magnetic fields are measured in units of tesla (T). The tesla is a large unit for geophysical observations, and a smaller unit, the nanotesla (nT; one nanotesla equals 10−9 tesla), is normally used. A nanotesla is equivalent to one gamma, a unit originally defined as 10−5 gauss, which is the uni...
  • nanotube (chemical compound)
    In 1991 Iijima Sumio of NEC Corporation’s Fundamental Research Laboratory, Tsukuba Science City, Japan, investigated material extracted from solids that grew on the tips of carbon electrodes after being discharged under C60 formation conditions. Iijima found that the solids consisted of tiny tubes made up of numerous concentric “graphene” cylinders, each cylinder wa...
  • Nanotyrannus (dinosaur genus)
    In 1991 Iijima Sumio of NEC Corporation’s Fundamental Research Laboratory, Tsukuba Science City, Japan, investigated material extracted from solids that grew on the tips of carbon electrodes after being discharged under C60 formation conditions. Iijima found that the solids consisted of tiny tubes made up of numerous concentric “graphene” cylinders, each cylinder wa...
  • nanowhisker
    ...for working at the nanoscale have become essential to electronic engineering, and nanoengineered materials have begun to appear in consumer products. For example, billions of microscopic “nanowhiskers,” each about 10 nanometres in length, have been molecularly hooked onto natural and synthetic fibres to impart stain resistance to clothing and other fabrics; zinc oxide......
  • nanowire
    Carbon nanotubes have remarkable electronic, mechanical, and chemical properties. Depending on their specific diameter and the bonding arrangement of their carbon atoms, nanotubes exhibit either metallic or semiconducting behaviour. Electrical conduction within a perfect nanotube is ballistic (negligible scattering), with low thermal dissipation. As a result, a wire made from a nanotube, or a......
  • nanpa (musical instrument)
    One type of pipa very popular in Fujian and Taiwan is sometimes called nanpa (“southern pipa”). An important instrument in the Nanyin (“southern music”; Fujianese) or Nanguan (“southern pipes”; Taiwanese) ensemble, it preserves many ancie...
  • Nanpan River (river, China)
    The Xi’s main headstream is generally considered to be the Nanpan River, which rises in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau at an elevation of about 6,900 feet (2,100 metres). The Nanpan drops about 5,900 feet (1,800 metres) in the first 530 miles (850 km) of its course and flows in a southeasterly direction through Yunnan province. It then forms part of the border between Guizhou province and the.....
  • Nanping (China)
    city in north-central Fujian sheng (province), China. Nanping occupies an important position in the communications network of northern Fujian. It is situated on the northwest bank of the Min River at the place where that river is formed by the confluence of three major tributary systems—the Sha River, flowing from...
  • nanren (Chinese social class)
    The bulk of the population belonged to the third and fourth classes, the han-jen, or northern Chinese, and the man-tzu, or southern barbarians, who lived in what had been Sung China. The expenses of state and the support of the privileged bore heavily on these two classes, with Kublai’s continuing wars and his extravagant building operations at Ta-tu. Peasants were brought in ...
  • Nanše (Mesopotamian goddess)
    in Mesopotamian religion, Sumerian city goddess of Nina (modern Surghul, Iraq) in the southeastern part of the Lagash region of Mesopotamia. According to tradition, Nanshe’s father Enki (Akkadian: Ea) organized the universe and placed her in charge of fish and fishing. Nanshe was also described as a divine soothsayer and dream interpreter. Although at t...
  • Nansei Islands (archipelago, Japan)
    archipelago, extending some 700 miles (1,100 km) southwestward from the southern Japanese island of Kyushu to northeastern Taiwan. The archipelago defines the boundary between the East China Sea (west) and the Philippine Sea (east). With a total land area of 1,193 square miles (3,090 square km), the Ryukyus consist of 55 i...
  • Nansei-Shotō (archipelago, Japan)
    archipelago, extending some 700 miles (1,100 km) southwestward from the southern Japanese island of Kyushu to northeastern Taiwan. The archipelago defines the boundary between the East China Sea (west) and the Philippine Sea (east). With a total land area of 1,193 square miles (3,090 square km), the Ryukyus consist of 55 i...
  • Nansei-Shotō Trench (trench, Pacific Ocean)
    deep ocean trench running north along the eastern edge of the Ryukyu Islands (Japan) in the Philippine Sea, between Taiwan and the Japanese archipelago. The Ryukyu Trench reaches a maximum depth of 24,629 feet (7,507 m) about 60 miles (90 km) south of Okinawa. It is 1,398 miles (2,250 km) long, and its mean width is 37 miles (60 km). Its floor area extends over some 52,000 square miles (135,000 sq...
  • Nansen Basin (basin, Arctic Ocean)
    ...at a depth of 14,070 feet. The geographic north pole is located over the floor of the Fram Basin near its juncture with the Lomonosov Ridge. The smallest of the Arctic Ocean subbasins, called the Nansen Basin, lies between the Nansen-Gakkel Ridge and the Eurasian continental margin and has a floor depth of 13,800 feet....
Skip this Advertisement

Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your Web site or blog-post.

If you think a reference to this article on "" will enhance your Web site, blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article, and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service.

You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.

copy link

We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.

Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.

The Britannica Store
A-Z Browse

Image preview