Finn, legendary Irish hero, leader of the group of warriors known as the Fianna Éireann. See Fenian

Fenian cycle, in Irish literature, tales and ballads centring on the deeds of the legendary Finn MacCumhaill (MacCool) and his war band, the Fianna Éireann. An elite volunteer corps of warriors and huntsmen, skilled in poetry, the Fianna flourished under the reign of Cormac mac Airt in the 3rd

Celtic literature: Writings of the medieval period: The bard best represented is Fionnlagh Ruadh, bard to John, chief of clan Gregor (died 1519). There are three poems by Giolla Coluim mac an Ollaimh, a professional poet at the court of the Lord of the Isles and almost certainly a member of the MacMhuirich bardic family, the famous…

forgery: Forgery in the visual arts: Finally, Alfredo Adolfo Fioravanti confessed that he was the sole survivor of the three forgers.

fjord, long narrow arm of the sea, commonly extending far inland, that results from marine inundation of a glaciated valley. Many fjords are astonishingly deep; Sogn Fjord in Norway is 1,308 m (4,290 feet) deep, and Canal Messier in Chile is 1,270 m (4,167 feet). The great depth of these submerged

Fiordland penguin, (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus), species of crested penguin (genus Eudyptes, order Sphenisciformes) characterized by a thick stripe of pale yellow feather plumes above each eye (the superciliary stripe) that extends from the bill to the rear of the head. The terminal ends of each of the

Fiordland National Park, scenic natural area in the southernmost part of South Island, New Zealand. Established as a reserve in 1904, it was designated a national park in 1952. It covers an area of some 4,600 square miles (12,000 square km), making it one of the largest national parks in the world.

Fiordland penguin, (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus), species of crested penguin (genus Eudyptes, order Sphenisciformes) characterized by a thick stripe of pale yellow feather plumes above each eye (the superciliary stripe) that extends from the bill to the rear of the head. The terminal ends of each of the

Joachim Of Fiore was an Italian mystic, theologian, biblical commentator, philosopher of history, and founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore. He developed a philosophy of history according to which history develops in three ages of increasing spirituality: the ages of the Father,

Pasquale Fiore was an Italian jurist and leading authority on international law. Fiore studied at Urbino, Pisa, and Turin, and, after a period of teaching philosophy at Cremona, during which he published Elementi di diritto pubblico constituzionale e amministrativo (1862; “Elements of Public

Giuseppe Fiorelli was an Italian archaeologist whose systematic excavation at Pompeii helped to preserve much of the ancient city as nearly intact as possible and contributed significantly to modern archaeological methods. Fiorelli’s initial work at Pompeii was completed in 1848. Then, when he

Compagnia degli Uniti: …perform with the Uniti was Silvio Fiorillo, known for the innovations he made in the characters of the cowardly braggart Capitano Mattamoros and the eccentric curmudgeon Pulcinella.

Jerry Bock: … he had his greatest successes: Fiorello! (1959, Pulitzer Prize) and Fiddler on the Roof (1964). Bock and Harnick’s other musicals included The Body Beautiful (1958), Tenderloin (1960), the admired She Loves Me (1963), The Apple Tree (1966), and The Rothschilds (1966).

Roberto Baggio: Club career: Baggio blossomed into stardom with Fiorentina, his distinctive ponytail becoming famous throughout the country. When he transferred to Juventus for a then record fee in 1990, there were riots in Florence. In his first match against Fiorentina as a member of Juventus, Baggio refused to take a penalty kick, an…

William Friedkin: …point toward his ex-girlfriend (Linda Fiorentino). Friedkin returned to television for 12 Angry Men (1997), a remake of the 1957 classic that earned solid reviews.

Italian literature: Religious and historical literature: …Fioretti di San Francesco (The Little Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi).

Federico Barocci was a leading painter of the central Italian school in the last decades of the 16th century and an important precursor of the Baroque style. Barocci studied in Urbino with Battista Franco, a follower of Michelangelo’s maniera. Although he made two visits to Rome—one in about 1550

Girolamo Frescobaldi: …of Frescobaldi’s remaining publications, the Fiori musicali of 1635, consists of organ music intended for liturgical use.

Western sculpture: Conservative reaction (1920s): …Arno Breker, Karl Albiker, and Ernesto de Fiori were simply variations on a studio theme in praise of youth and body culture. In the United States adherents of the countermovement included William Zorach, Chaim Gross, Adolph Block, Paul Manship, and Wheeler Williams.

Federico Barocci was a leading painter of the central Italian school in the last decades of the 16th century and an important precursor of the Baroque style. Barocci studied in Urbino with Battista Franco, a follower of Michelangelo’s maniera. Although he made two visits to Rome—one in about 1550

Tiberio Fiorillo was an Italian actor of the commedia dell’arte who developed the character Scaramouche. Perhaps the son of Silvio Fiorillo, a famous Pulcinella, Tiberio Fiorillo quit an undistinguished company of players to gain fame as the braggart captain called Scaramuccia. He was especially

Compagnia degli Uniti: …perform with the Uniti was Silvio Fiorillo, known for the innovations he made in the characters of the cowardly braggart Capitano Mattamoros and the eccentric curmudgeon Pulcinella.

Tiberio Fiorillo was an Italian actor of the commedia dell’arte who developed the character Scaramouche. Perhaps the son of Silvio Fiorillo, a famous Pulcinella, Tiberio Fiorillo quit an undistinguished company of players to gain fame as the braggart captain called Scaramuccia. He was especially

creeping bent, (Agrostis stolonifera), perennial grass of the family Poaceae, widely used as a lawn and turf grass. Creeping bent is native to Eurasia and northern Africa and commonly grows in wetlands. The plant is widely naturalized in many places throughout the world and is considered an

Carly Fiorina is an American business executive who, as CEO (1999–2005) of Hewlett-Packard Company, was the first woman to head a company listed on the Dow Jones average. She sought the Republican Party nomination for president in 2016. Cara Carleton Sneed is the daughter of Joseph Sneed, a judge

coin: Italy and Sicily: …famous and profuse series of fiorini d’oro, or gold florins. The lily continued as the civic type, together with the standing figure of the Baptist. Regular weight (about 3.50 grams, 54 grains) and fineness won the fiorino universal fame and wide imitation; double florins were introduced in 1504. Venice in…

silica mineral: Solubility of silica minerals: …silica results in formation of siliceous sinter or geyserite, as at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park in the western United States.

Fipa, a Bantu-speaking people linguistically related to Lungu, Pimbwe, and Mambwe who inhabit the Ufipa plateau between lakes Tanganyika and Rukwa in southwestern Tanzania. From prehistoric times the plateau has been a corridor between northeastern and south central Africa. The Fipa are an amalgam

fipple flute, any of several end-blown flutes having a plug (“block,” or “fipple”) inside the pipe below the mouth hole, forming a flue, duct, or windway that directs the player’s breath alternately above and below the sharp edge of a lateral hole. This arrangement causes the enclosed air column to

bowling: International competition: …of any consequence until the Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) was formed in 1952 to coordinate international amateur competition. Its headquarters is in Helsinki, and it has grown to more than 70 member nations.

fiqh, Muslim jurisprudence—i.e., the science of ascertaining the precise terms of the Sharīʿah, or Islamic law. The collective sources of Muslim jurisprudence are known as uṣūl al-fiqh. While Sharīʿah is considered to be divine and immutable, fiqh, the human effort to know the Sharīʿah, is

North Africa: The Maghrib under the Almoravids and the Almohads: The fuqahāʾ (experts on Islamic law) supervised both the administration of justice by the qāḍīs and the work of the provincial governors, and they acted as advisers to the rulers. The empire’s simple system of government, in which military commanders acted as administrators, was rendered especially…

airport: Air traffic control: …as it flies through successive flight information regions (FIRs). Upon approaching an airport at which a landing is to be made, the aircraft passes into the terminal control area (TCA). Within this area, there may be a greatly increased density of air traffic, and this is closely monitored on radar…

pine: Major Eurasian pines: The Scotch pine (P. sylvestris) of northern Europe, when grown under optimum conditions, attains a height of 20 to 40 meters (70 to 130 feet). It is conical in youth, acquires a mushroom-shaped crown in maturity, and has a straight trunk as much as one meter…

fir, (genus Abies), genus of more than 40 species of evergreen trees of the conifer family Pinaceae. Although several other coniferous trees are commonly called firs—e.g., the Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga), the hemlock fir (see hemlock), and the joint fir (see Ephedra), true firs are native to North

club moss: Major genera and species: Fir club moss (H. selago), a 20-cm- (8-inch-) tall plant native to rocks and bog margins in the Northern Hemisphere, also lacks distinct strobili.

Canada balsam, oleoresin consisting of a viscous yellowish to greenish liquid exuded by the balsam fir of North America, Abies balsamea. It is actually a turpentine, belonging to the class of oleoresins (natural products consisting of a resin dissolved in an essential oil), and not a balsam. Canada

Thera: The chief town, Thíra (locally called Firá), was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1956. Other settlements include Emboríon and Pírgos to the south and the port of Oía at the north entrance to the lagoon, which was destroyed by the 1956 earthquake.

Euphrates River, river, Middle East. The longest river in southwest Asia, it is 1,740 miles (2,800 km) long, and it is one of the two main constituents of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. The river rises in Turkey and flows southeast across Syria and through Iraq. Formed by the confluence of the

Ronald Firbank was an English novelist who was a literary innovator of some importance. Greatly indebted to the literature of the 1890s, his is a peculiarly fantastic and perverse, idiosyncratic humour. His wit largely depends upon the shape and cadence of the sentence and upon an eccentric and

Ronald Firbank was an English novelist who was a literary innovator of some importance. Greatly indebted to the literature of the 1890s, his is a peculiarly fantastic and perverse, idiosyncratic humour. His wit largely depends upon the shape and cadence of the sentence and upon an eccentric and

Ferdowsī was a Persian poet, author of the Shāh-nāmeh (“Book of Kings”), the Persian national epic, to which he gave a final and enduring form, although he based his poem mainly on an earlier prose version. Ferdowsī was born in a village on the outskirts of the ancient city of Ṭūs. In the course of

Ferdowsī was a Persian poet, author of the Shāh-nāmeh (“Book of Kings”), the Persian national epic, to which he gave a final and enduring form, although he based his poem mainly on an earlier prose version. Ferdowsī was born in a village on the outskirts of the ancient city of Ṭūs. In the course of

Ferdowsī was a Persian poet, author of the Shāh-nāmeh (“Book of Kings”), the Persian national epic, to which he gave a final and enduring form, although he based his poem mainly on an earlier prose version. Ferdowsī was born in a village on the outskirts of the ancient city of Ṭūs. In the course of

military technology: Fortress design: …the ramparts and for enfilade fire from flanking towers. By classical Greek times, fortress architecture had attained a high level of sophistication; both the profile and the trace (that is, the height above ground level and the outline of the walls) of fortifications were designed to achieve overlapping fields of…

fire, rapid burning of combustible material with the evolution of heat and usually accompanied by flame. It is one of humanity’s essential tools, control of which helped start it on the path toward civilization. The original source of fire undoubtedly was lightning, and such fortuitously ignited

fire, in gems, rapidly changing flashes of colour seen in some gems, such as diamonds. Some minerals show dispersion; that is, they break incident white light into its component colours. The greater the separation between rays of red light (at one end of the visible spectrum) and rays of violet

fire alarm, means of warning in case of fire. Originally, watchmen provided the only fire-alarm system, but, with the advent of electric power, boxes wired to fire departments provided a warning system from city streets and such institutional buildings as schools. While some of the latter remain in

Terrence McNally: Fire and Air (2018) is about the Ballets Russes and founder Serge Diaghilev’s relationship with Vaslav Nijinsky.

Lawrence James Adler: (later renamed FAI Insurance, Ltd.) and one of the 10 richest men in the country.

Frank Frazetta: The film, Fire and Ice, was poorly received upon its release in 1983.

Rudolf Karl, baron von Slatin: His book, Feuer und Schwert im Sudan, 2 vol. (1896, 1922; “Fire and Sword in the Sudan”), was instrumental in enlisting support against the Mahdists. After serving with Lord Kitchener (1897–98) in the reconquest of the Sudan, he was named inspector general of the Sudan in 1900…

fire ant, (genus Solenopsis), genus of nearly 200 species of ants that occur in tropical regions of the world, such as Central and South America, and in some temperate regions, such as North America. They are noted for their ability to survive extreme conditions, including floods. Fire ants are

fire blight, plant disease, caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, that can give infected plants a scorched appearance. Fire blight largely affects members of the rose family (Rosaceae). It has destroyed pear and apple orchards in much of North America, in parts of Europe, and in New Zealand

bomb: Conventional bomb types: Incendiary bombs are of two main types. The burning material of the intensive type is thermite, a mixture of aluminum powder and iron oxide that burns at a very high temperature. The casing of such a bomb is composed of magnesium, a metal that itself burns…

Molotov cocktail, a crude bomb, typically consisting of a bottle filled with a flammable liquid and a wick that is ignited before throwing. It explodes into a fireball when it smashes against a hard surface. The Molotov cocktail is named for Vyacheslav Molotov, the foreign minister of the Soviet

firefighting, activity directed at limiting the spread of fire and extinguishing it, particularly as performed by members of organizations (fire services or fire departments) trained for the purpose. When it is possible, firefighters rescue persons endangered by the fire, if necessary, before

ecological disturbance: Disturbance frequency and recovery: The biology of pin cherries (Prunus pensylvanica) illustrates an extension of this theme. In the course of secondary succession in forests of the eastern United States and southern Canada, these small trees grow into gaps and are abundant for periods of about 10 to 25 years; over time,…

artillery: Fire control: In the 1850s the tactics of artillery were simple: the gun was positioned well to the front and fired across open sights straight at the enemy. The general adoption after the 1880s of long-range rifles firing smokeless-powder rounds rendered this…

cnidarian: Support mechanisms and skeletons: Hydrocorals, which include the order Milleporina (millepores), commonly called fire coral, and the precious red coral used for jewelry, form encrusting or branching skeletons similar to those of anthozoan corals.

tobacco: Curing: The fire-curing process resembles air curing except that open wood fires are kindled on the floor of the curing barn after the tobacco has been hanging for two to six days. The smoke imparts to the tobacco a characteristic aroma of creosote. The firing process may…

Loie Fuller: …the Folies Bergère in her "Fire Dance," in which she danced on glass illuminated from below. She quickly became the toast of avant-garde Paris. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Auguste Rodin, and Jules Chéret used her as a subject, several writers dedicated works to her, and daring society women sought her out.…

construction: Life-safety systems: …include life-threatening events, such as fire and smoke and earthquakes, and less critical ones, such as electric power failures. To deal with the threat of fire and smoke there is an array of fire-detection and fire-suppression systems. These include electronic heat and smoke detectors that can activate audible alarm devices…

William Golding: Lord of the Flies and other novels: …sequels, Close Quarters (1987) and Fire Down Below (1989).

fire: Manufacture of fire: The simple fire drill, a pointed stick of hard wood twirled between the palms and pressed into a hole on the edge of a stick of softer wood, is almost universal. The fire-plow and the fire saw are variations on the friction method common in Oceania, Australia,…

Margaret Laurence: …Rachel, Rachel in 1968) and The Fire Dwellers (1969) are about two sisters, a Manitoba schoolteacher and a Vancouver housewife, each trying to achieve personal fulfillment. After The Diviners (1974), a novel, and Heart of a Stranger (1977), a collection of essays, Laurence turned to writing children’s stories.

fire engine, mobile (nowadays self-propelled) piece of equipment used in firefighting. Early fire engines were hand pumps equipped with reservoirs and were moved to the scene of a fire by human or animal power. For large fires, the reservoir was kept filled by a bucket brigade, but that method was

fire escape, means of rapid egress from a building, primarily intended for use in case of fire. Several types have been used: a knotted rope or rope ladder secured to an inside wall; an open iron stairway on the building’s exterior, an iron balcony; a chute; and an enclosed fire- and smokeproof

fire extinguisher, portable or movable apparatus used to put out a small fire by directing onto it a substance that cools the burning material, deprives the flame of oxygen, or interferes with the chemical reactions occurring in the flame. Water performs two of these functions: its conversion to

firefighting, activity directed at limiting the spread of fire and extinguishing it, particularly as performed by members of organizations (fire services or fire departments) trained for the purpose. When it is possible, firefighters rescue persons endangered by the fire, if necessary, before

fire finch, any of several red-and-brown or red-and-black birds of Africa that usually have fine white dots on their undersides. Fire finches belong to the family Estrildidae (order Passeriformes). Perhaps the commonest and tamest bird in Africa is the 8-centimetre (3-inch) red-billed, or Senegal,

cup fungus: Fire fungus is the common name for two genera (Pyronema and Anthracobia) of the order that grow on burned wood or steamed soil.

ormolu, (from French dorure d’or moulu: “gilding with gold paste”), gold-coloured alloy of copper, zinc, and sometimes tin, in various proportions but usually containing at least 50 percent copper. Ormolu is used in mounts (ornaments on borders, edges, and as angle guards) for furniture, especially

Ben Okri: …for the Many (2018), and A Fire in My Head: Poems for the Dawn (2021). His short-story collections from this time included Prayer for the Living (2019). A Way of Being Free (1997) and A Time for New Dreams (2011) are collections of Okri’s essays. Although typically not overtly political,…

Raphael: Last years in Rome of Raphael: …exception of one fresco, the Fire in the Borgo, in which his pursuit of more dramatic pictorial incidents and his continuing study of the male nude are plainly apparent.

Māori: Māori versus Pākehā: …and to the Māori as Te riri Pākehā, “the white man’s anger,”—was fought from 1864 to 1872. Hostilities spread to virtually the whole of North Island. The main Māori combatants in the mid-60s were the fanatic Hauhau warriors. The British government wanted to conclude peace in 1864, but the colonial…

Harlem Renaissance: Fiction: Walter White’s The Fire in the Flint (1924) focused on the career and then the lynching of a Black physician and veteran of World War I. Protesting racial oppression and exposing its most barbaric expressions, White’s novel also brought attention to a distinguished Black professional class whose…

fire insurance, provision against losses caused by fire, lightning, and the removal of property from premises endangered by fire. The insurer agrees, for a fee, to reimburse the insured in the event of such an occurrence. The standard policy limits coverage to the replacement cost of the property

Fire Island, elongated sandspit, 32 miles (51 km) long and 0.5 mile (1 km) across (at its widest point), Suffolk county, New York, U.S. It lies off the southern shore of Long Island and shelters Great South Bay and part of Moriches Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The origin of the island’s name is

bear grass: Physical description: tenax), is also known as elk grass and fire lily. It is a light green mountain perennial with a stout unbranched stem, 0.6 to 2 metres (2 to 6 feet) high, which rises from a tuberlike rootstock and cordlike roots. The stem bears a dense basal tuft of narrow rough-edged…

The Fire Next Time, nonfiction book, published in 1963, comprising two previously published essays in letter form by James Baldwin. In these essays Baldwin warned that, if white America did not change its attitudes and policies toward Black Americans and alter the conditions under which Black

Anita Desai: Fire on the Mountain (1977) was criticized as relying too heavily on imagery at the expense of plot and characterization, but it was praised for its poetic symbolism and use of sounds. Clear Light of Day (1980), considered the author’s most successful work, is praised…

Douglas Stewart: The Fire on the Snow, broadcast in 1941, described the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition to Antarctica in 1912. This was followed by The Golden Lover (1944; published with The Fire on the Snow), the retelling of a Maori legend. Three historical dramas for…

opal: Fire opals usually are facet cut, but most other precious opals are finished en cabochon because their optical properties are best displayed on smoothly rounded surfaces. Undersized fragments are used for inlay work, and small pieces scattered throughout a natural matrix are commonly sold under…

William K. Howard: Later films: …moved to England to make Fire over England (1937), a historical epic set in the 16th century. The acclaimed costume drama starred Laurence Olivier as a British naval officer who spies on Spain’s Philip II (Raymond Massey) for Elizabeth I (Flora Robson); in one of her early screen roles, Vivien…

fire: Manufacture of fire: A fire piston that produced heat and fire by the compression of air in a small tube of bamboo was a complex device invented and used in southeastern Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. About 1800 a metal fire piston was independently invented in Europe. In 1827…

industrial glass: Chemical properties: …be accomplished by two methods: fire polishing, a procedure that removes alkali ions by volatilization; or surface treatment with a mixture of sulfur dioxide and steam, which extracts alkali by leaching and converting to washable alkali sulfate. Other methods of improving chemical durability involve limiting the access of water or…

fire prevention and control, the prevention, detection, and extinguishment of fires, including such secondary activities as research into the causes of fire, education of the public about fire hazards, and the maintenance and improvement of fire-fighting equipment. Until after World War I little

Max Frisch: …Biedermann und die Brandstifter (1958; The Firebugs, also published as The Fire Raisers), arsonists insinuate themselves into the house of the weak-willed, complacent Biedermann, who allows them to destroy his home and his world rather than confront them. Frisch’s later plays included Andorra (1961), with its theme of collective guilt,…

pyrometallurgy, extraction and purification of metals by processes involving the application of heat. The most important operations are roasting, smelting, and refining. Roasting, or heating in air without fusion, transforms sulfide ores into oxides, the sulfur escaping as sulfur dioxide, a gas.

Caudata: Life cycle and reproduction: The fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) deposits relatively advanced larvae in the water. In the alpine salamander (S. atra) and Mertensiella, fully metamorphosed individuals are born. One individual develops from the first egg in each oviduct, the tube leading from the ovary to the outside. Initially, the…

Sara Paretsky: In Fire Sale (2005) Warshawski becomes embroiled in a mystery involving a local discount store when she takes over coaching the girls’ basketball team at her former high school. Bleeding Kansas (2008) was another departure from Warshawski and her Chicago milieu; it concerned the disputes and…

fireplace: The fire screen was developed early in the 19th century to prevent sparks from flying into the room, and it also has been ornamented and shaped to serve decorative as well as functional purposes.

trench warfare: Early developments: …raised forward step called a fire step, and duckboards are placed on the often muddy bottom of the trench to provide secure footing.

fire storm, violent convection caused by a continuous area of intense fire and characterized by destructively violent surface indrafts. Sometimes it is accompanied by tornado-like whirls that develop as hot air from the burning fuel rises. Such a fire is beyond human intervention and subsides only

Jesmyn Ward: Novels and nonfiction works: …she served as editor of The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race. Taking its inspiration from American author James Baldwin and his 1963 essay collection, The Fire Next Time, Ward’s book features essays and poems by some of the most prominent contemporary Black writers, including Edwidge Danticat,…

forestry: Fire prevention and control: …aircraft is essentially a moving fire tower, and the problems of detection that apply to a tower also apply to an aircraft; however, new developments in remote-control television, high-resolution photography, heat-sensing devices, film, and radar make fire detection by aircraft and satellite more efficient and location more accurate. Satellites provide…

fire engine, mobile (nowadays self-propelled) piece of equipment used in firefighting. Early fire engines were hand pumps equipped with reservoirs and were moved to the scene of a fire by human or animal power. For large fires, the reservoir was kept filled by a bucket brigade, but that method was

gas-turbine engine: Origins: Dubbed the fire turbine, his machine consisted of a multistage, axial-flow air compressor that was mounted on the same shaft as a multistage, reaction turbine. Air from the compressor passed through a heat exchanger, where it was heated by the turbine exhaust gases before passing through a…