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Leucoselenia (sponge genus)
genus of tubular branched sponges of the class Calcispongiae (phylum Porifera). Found in tide pools and on wharves and represented by numerous species, the widespread genus includes most of the asconoids, structurally the simplest sponges....
Leucosolenia (sponge genus)
genus of tubular branched sponges of the class Calcispongiae (phylum Porifera). Found in tide pools and on wharves and represented by numerous species, the widespread genus includes most of the asconoids, structurally the simplest sponges....
Leucosporidiales (order of fungi)
Annotated classification...
Leucothea (Greek mythology)
(Greek: White Goddess [of the Foam]), in Greek mythology, a sea goddess first mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, in which she rescued the Greek hero Odysseus from drowning. She was customarily identified with Ino, daughter of the Phoenician Cadmus; because she cared for the infant god Dionysus, the goddess Hera dro...
Leucothoë (plant genus)
genus of about eight species of shrubs, of the heath family (Ericaceae), native to North America and eastern Asia. Species such as L. fontanesiana are grown as ornamentals, chiefly for their large, usually evergreen leaves and the white (sometim...
leucotomy (surgery)
...human behaviour involves social interaction. Although the whole brain contributes to social activities, certain parts of the cerebral hemispheres are particularly involved. The surgical procedure of leucotomy, cutting through the white matter that connects parts of the frontal lobes with the thalamus, upsets this aspect of behaviour. This procedure, proposed by the Spanish neurologist Egas......
Leuctra, Battle of (Greek history [371 BC])
(371 bc), battle fought on the plain of Leuctra (near modern Levktra) in southern Boeotia, in which a Boeotian army under Epaminondas defeated a Spartan army under King Cleombrotus. This Spartan defeat in the Boeotian–Athenian war against Sparta of 379–371 destroyed the reputation of the Spartan hoplite phalanx and established Theban hegemony in Greec...
Leuenberger, Niklaus (Swiss hero)
Swiss peasant hero, spokesman for rural discontent, and leader of the peasant revolt at Bern (1653), for which he earned the sobriquet King of the Peasants....
leuga (measurement)
any of several European units of measurement ranging from 2.4 to 4.6 statute miles (3.9 to 7.4 km). In English-speaking countries the land league is generally accepted as 3 statute miles (4.83 km), although varying lengths from 7,500 feet to 15,000 feet (2.29 to 4.57 km) were sometimes employed. An ancient unit derived from the Gauls and introduced into England by the Normans, t...
leukapheresis (biology)
...is tailored specifically for each patient. Its manufacture is based on the collection of antigen-presenting cells (APCs; a type of immune cell) from the patient’s blood using a procedure known as leukapheresis (the separation of leukocytes, or white blood cells, from other blood components). The APCs are then cultured in a laboratory, where they are grown in the presence of a protein tha...
Leukas (island, Greece)
Greek island in the Ionian Sea (Modern Greek: Ióvio Pélagos), forming with the island of Meganísi the nomós (department) of Levkás. The 117-sq-mi (303-sq-km) island is a hilly mass of limestone and bituminous shales culminating in the centre in Mount El...
Leuke Akte (Syria)
city and muḥāfaẓah (governorate), northwestern Syria. The city, capital of the governorate, is situated on the low-lying Raʿs Ziyārah promontory that projects into the Mediterranean Sea. It was known to the Phoenicians as Ramitha and to the Greeks as ...
leukemia (pathology)
a cancer of the blood-forming tissues characterized by a large increase in the numbers of white blood cells (leukocytes) in the circulation or bone marrow. A number of different leukemias are classified according to the course of the ...
leukemia inhibitory factor (biology)
The most-studied embryonic stem cells are mouse embryonic stem cells, which were first reported in 1981. This type of stem cell can be cultured indefinitely in the presence of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a glycoprotein cytokine. If cultured mouse embryonic stem cells are injected into an early mouse embryo at the blastocyst stage, they will become integrated into the embryo and produce......
Leukerbad (Switzerland)
...as Crans-Montana on the slopes above the Rhône valley in Valais canton and Wengen in the Berner Oberland, have developed into famous resorts. Places such as Bad Ragaz in the Rhine valley and Leukerbad in Valais canton are noted as spas. Valley forks, where the traffic from two valleys combines, were natural sites for settlement. Two of the best examples are Martigny (the Roman city of......
leukocyte (biology)
a cellular component of the blood that lacks hemoglobin, has a nucleus, is capable of motility, and defends the body against infection and disease by ingesting foreign materials and cellular debris, by destroying infectious agents and cancer cells, or by producing antibodies. A healthy adult human has between 4,500 and 11,00...
leukocyte alkaline phosphatase test
a cellular component of the blood that lacks hemoglobin, has a nucleus, is capable of motility, and defends the body against infection and disease by ingesting foreign materials and cellular debris, by destroying infectious agents and cancer cells, or by producing antibodies. A healthy adult human has between 4,500 and 11,00...
leukocyte-poor red blood cell (biology)
Leukocyte-poor red blood cells are obtained by employing a filter to remove white blood cells (leukocytes) from a unit of packed red blood cells. This type of transfusion is used to prevent febrile (fever) reactions in patients who have had multiple febrile transfusion reactions in the past, presumably to white blood cell antigens. Removal of leukocytes from blood components is referred to as......
leukocytosis (medical disorder)
abnormally high number of white blood cells (leukocytes) in the blood circulation, defined as more than 10,000 leukocytes per cubic millimetre of blood. Leukocytosis is most commonly the result of infection. It may also occur after strenuous exercise, convulsions (e.g....
leukoderma (medical disorder)
hereditary patchy loss of melanin pigment from the skin. Though the pigment-making cells of the skin, or melanocytes, are structurally intact, they have lost the ability to synthesize the pigment. The reason for this condition is unclear. Vitiligo appears clinically as milk-white, irregularly oval patches of skin, which are small at the beginning but enlarge gradually. These patches are roughly sy...
leukoma (pathology)
When the cornea is damaged—e.g., by a virus infection—the collagen laid down in the repair processes is not regularly arranged, with the result that an opaque patch called a leukoma, may occur....
leukopenia (medical disorder)
abnormally low number of white blood cells (leukocytes) in the blood circulation, defined as less than 5,000 leukocytes per cubic millimetre of blood. Leukopenia often accompanies certain infections, especially those caused by viruses or protozoans. Other causes of the...
leukoplakia (medical disorder)
precancerous tumour of the mucous membranes, most common in older men and usually seen on the lips or tongue, but also known to occur in women on the vagina or vulva. Leukoplakia first appears as a small, smooth, white spot but develops into a larger area of thickening with a rough texture and colour varying from white to gray; red areas within the leukoplakia pose a particularly high risk of bec...
leukorrhea (medical disorder)
flow of a whitish, yellowish, or greenish discharge from the vagina of the female that may be normal or that may be a sign of infection. Such discharges may originate from the vagina, ovaries, fallopian tubes, or, most commonly, the cervix. Leukorrhea may occur during pregnancy and is considered normal w...
leukotriene (biochemistry)
Arachidonic acid is important because the human body uses it as a starting material in the synthesis of two kinds of essential substances, the prostaglandins and the leukotrienes, both of which are also unsaturated carboxylic acids. Examples are PGE2 (a prostaglandin) and LTB4 (a leukotriene). The symbol PG represents prostaglandin, E indicates the presence of a keto group......
Leunianum (Italy)
city, Lombardia (Lombardy) regione, northern Italy, on the Olona River. An unimportant Roman settlement called Leunianum, it became the site of a fortified castle of the bishops of Milan in the 11th century and in 1176 was the scene of a decisive defeat of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa...
Leurechon, Jean (French scholar)
In 1624 a French Jesuit, Jean Leurechon, writing under the pen name of van Etten, published Récréations mathématiques. This volume struck the popular fancy, passing through at least 30 editions before 1700, despite the fact that it was based largely on the work of Bachet, from whom he took the simpler problems, disregarding the more significant portions. Yet it did......
Leuresthes tenuis (fish)
(species Leuresthes tenuis), small Pacific fish of the family Atherinidae (order Atheriniformes). The species is found in the Pacific Ocean along the western coast of the United States...
Leuser, Mount (mountain, Indonesia)
Aceh is largely mountainous; Mounts Leuser and Abongabong rise to elevations of 11,092 feet (3,381 metres) and 9,793 feet (2,985 metres), respectively. Except in the extreme north, there is a fairly wide coastal plain, and the rivers are short and have little value for shipping. The southwestern coast is dotted with swamps. The interior volcanic mountains are covered by temperate and tropical......
“Leute von Seldwyla” (work by Keller)
Keller is best known for his short stories, some of which are collected as Die Leute von Seldwyla (1856–74; The People of Seldwyla) and Sieben Legenden (1872; Seven Legends). His last novel, Martin Salander (1886), deals with political life in Switzerland in his time....
Leuthen, Battle of (Seven Years’ War [1757])
...fought a two-hour battle that cost his enemies 7,000 men as against 550 Prussian troops. He then turned to meet the Austrians in Silesia and, again heavily outnumbered, won his greatest victory at Leuthen on December 5....
“Leutnant Gustl” (work by Schnitzler)
...military code of honour in the plays Liebelei (1896; Playing with Love) and Freiwild (1896; “Free Game”). His most successful novel, Leutnant Gustl (1901; None but the Brave), dealing with a similar theme, was the first European masterpiece written as an interior monologue. In Flucht in die Finsternis (1931; Flight into Darkness) he...
Leutwein, Theodor (German military officer)
Maj. Theodor Leutwein, military commander and governor of the colony, was in charge of the German response. Since the Herero were well armed and, moreover, significantly outnumbered the German colonial garrison, he favoured a negotiated settlement of the conflict. He was, however, overruled by the General Staff in Berlin who demanded a military solution. On April 13 Leutwein’s troops were.....
Leutwyler, Heinrich (Swiss physicist)
In 1973 the concept of colour as the source of a “strong field” was developed into the theory of QCD by European physicists Harald Fritzsch and Heinrich Leutwyler, together with American physicist Murray Gell-Mann. In particular, they employed the general field theory developed in the 1950s by Chen Ning Yang and Robert Mills, in which the carrier particles of a force can themselves.....
Leutze, Emanuel Gottlieb (German-American painter)
German-born American historical painter whose picture Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) numbers among the most popular and widely reproduced images of an American historical event....
Leuven (Belgium)
municipality, Flanders Region, central Belgium. It lies along the Dyle (Dijle) River and is connected by canal with the Scheldt (Schelde). The city is about 16 miles (26 km) east of Brussels. It was founded in the 9th century around a fortress built by a German emperor against the Normans, and it became important in the 11th century as the residence of the counts of Leuven, afte...
Leuven, Catholic University of (university, Leuven, Belgium)
renowned institution of higher learning founded in 1425 in Leuven (Louvain), Brabant (now in Belgium). The university was a unitary entity until 1970 when it was partitioned, based on linguistic differences, into two separate universities. In the one university (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) the language of instruction is Flemish (...
Leuven, Katholieke Universiteit te (university, Leuven, Belgium)
renowned institution of higher learning founded in 1425 in Leuven (Louvain), Brabant (now in Belgium). The university was a unitary entity until 1970 when it was partitioned, based on linguistic differences, into two separate universities. In the one university (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) the language of instruction is Flemish (...
Lev, Zdeněk (Bohemian noble)
...among the aristocratic factions and their supporters in the lower classes. In 1522 Louis II left for Prague, intending to strengthen the royal authority. With the help of loyal lords, he relieved Zdeněk Lev of Rožmitál of the office of supreme burgrave in February 1523 and appointed Prince Karel of Minstrberk, a grandson of George of Poděbrady, to that key position.....
levade (horse movement)
...the piaffe, in which the horse trots without moving forward, backward, or sideways, the impulse being upward; the passage, high-stepping trot in which the impulse is more upward than forward; the levade, in which the horse stands balanced on its hindlegs, its forelegs drawn in; the courvet, which is a jump forward in the levade position; and the croupade, ballotade, and capriole, a variety of.....
Levallois-Perret (France)
city, Hauts-de-Seine département, Paris région, France. The city is a northwestern industrial and residential suburb of Paris and is located on the right bank of the Seine River, 4 miles (6.5 km) northwest of Notre Dame cathedral. With an area of less than 1 square mile (2.5 square km), it is connected to Paris by...
Levalloisian stone-flaking technique (anthropology)
toolmaking technique of prehistoric Europe and Africa, characterized by the production of large flakes from a tortoise core (prepared core shaped much like an inverted tortoise shell). Such flakes, seldom further trimmed, were flat on one side, had sharp cutting edges, and are believed to have been used as skinning knives. Sometimes the butts of Levalloisian flakes were trimmed ...
levallorphan (drug)
drug derived from morphine that can activate certain receptors and inhibit others. Levallorphan’s mixed actions are a result of its ability to bind to two different kinds of opioid receptors (so-called because they are the natural receptors for opiates, or narcotics...
levalto (dance)
16th-century leaping and turning dance for couples, originating in Italy and popular at French and German court balls until about 1750. Performed with a notoriously intimate embrace, it became respectable, but never completely dignified, after Queen Elizabeth I of England danced it with the earl of Leicester....
Levan, Henry Robert Merrill (American composer and lyricist)
American composer-lyricist (b. May 17, 1921?, Atlantic City, N.J.--d. Feb. 17, 1998, Beverly Hills, Calif.), wrote prolifically for both the pop music market and the Broadway music...
Levant
(from the French lever, “to rise,” as in sunrise, meaning the east), historically the countries along the eastern Mediterranean shores. Common use of the term is associated with Venetian and other trading ventures and the establishment of commerce with cities such as Tyre and Sidon as a result of the Crusades. It was applied to the coastlands of ...
Levant sparrowhawk (bird)
...dark gray above and brown barred white below, is a common inhabitant of wooded areas throughout Europe, in coastal northwestern Africa, and in temperate to sub-Arctic forests of Asia. The Levant sparrowhawk, or shikra (A. brevipes), is gray above and brown barred white below. It occurs from southeastern Europe throughout most of continental southern Asia and......
levante (wind)
strong wind of the western Mediterranean Sea and the southern coasts of France and Spain. It is mild, damp, and rainy and is most common in spring and fall. Its name is derived from Levant, the land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and refers to the wind’s easterly direction. The levanter reaches its maximum intensities in the ...
levanter (wind)
strong wind of the western Mediterranean Sea and the southern coasts of France and Spain. It is mild, damp, and rainy and is most common in spring and fall. Its name is derived from Levant, the land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and refers to the wind’s easterly direction. The levanter reaches its maximum intensities in the ...
Levantine Basin (basin, Mediterranean Sea)
...sounding in the Mediterranean, about 16,000 feet (4,900 metres), has been recorded. A submarine ridge between the western end of Crete and Cyrenaica (Libya) separates the Ionian Basin from the Levantine Basin to the south of Anatolia (Turkey); and the island of Crete separates the Levantine Basin from the Aegean Sea, which comprises that part of the Mediterranean Sea north of Crete and......
Levassor, Émile (French inventor)
French businessman and inventor who developed the basic configuration of the automobile....
levator ani muscle (anatomy)
Differences are also seen in the musculature (the levator ani) that supports the floor of the pelvis and that also controls the passage of feces. The loss of the tail in all apes has led to a major rearrangement of this muscle. There is more overlap and fusion between the various parts of the levator ani in modern humans than in apes, and the muscular sling that comprises the puborectalis in......
levator muscle (anatomy)
any of the muscles that raise a body part. In humans these include the levator anguli oris, which raises the corner of the mouth; the levator ani, collective name for a thin sheet of muscle that stretches across the pelvic cavity and helps hold the pelvic viscera in position, forming a kind of sphincter around the vagina in the female and the an...
levator palatoquadrati muscle (anatomy)
...one of the muscles of the ear) and partly by the seventh cranial nerve, the facial nerve (which also supplies an ear muscle associated with the stapes, an ear bone derived from the hyoid arch). The levator palatoquadrati, which elevates the upper jaw in jawed fishes, is retained as a jaw muscle in birds and in some reptiles, as they share the ability of fishes to move the upper jaw. The......
levator palpebri muscle (anatomy)
...with mucous membrane, and bordered with a fringe of hairs, the eyelashes. The lids move through the action of a circular lid-closing muscle, the orbicularis oculi, and of the lid-raising muscle, the levator of the upper lid. Impulses for closing come by way of the facial (seventh cranial) nerve, and for opening by way of the oculomotor (third cranial) nerve. The lid borders are kept lubricated....
levator scapulae muscle (anatomy)
...derivatives of the external oblique attaching the scapula (shoulder blade) to the body: the serratus, made up of numerous fingerlike slips running from the scapula to the neighbouring ribs, and the levator scapulae, which are fused with serratus along its caudal (tail-end) border. Levator scapulae consist of fibres running more anteriorly to ribs or transverse processes of the neck. Mammals and...
leveche (wind)
...levante (levanter) can bring as many as 15 consecutive days of dry, clear weather to the coastal strip in the region of the Strait of Gibraltar; the leveche brings a hot, dry, dust-laden wind that blights vegetation in spring from the southern sector to the Spanish Levantine lowlands (the provinces of Castellón, Valencia, and.....
levee (civil engineering)
any low ridge or earthen embankment built along the edges of a stream or river channel to prevent flooding of the adjacent land. Artificial levees are typically needed to control the flow of rivers meandering through broad, flat floodplains. Levees are usually embankments of dirt built wide enough so that they will not collapse or be eroded when saturated with moisture from rivers running at unus...
levée en masse (French history)
...Britain formed the first of seven coalitions that would oppose France over the next 23 years. In response to reverses at the hands of the First Coalition, the Revolutionary government declared a levy en masse, by which all Frenchmen were placed at the disposal of the army. By that means unprecedentedly large armies were raised and put in the field during this period. Battles on the Continent......
level (mining)
...below the deepest planned mining horizon. At regular intervals along the shaft, horizontal openings, called drifts, are driven toward the ore body. Each of these major working horizons is called a level. The shaft is equipped with elevators (called cages) by which workers, machines, and material enter the mine. Ore is transported to the surface in special conveyances called skips....
level (tool)
device for establishing a horizontal plane. It consists of a small glass tube containing alcohol or similar liquid and an air bubble; the tube is sealed and fixed horizontally in a wooden or metallic block or frame with a smooth lower surface. The glass tube is slightly bowed, and adjustment to the horizontal is indicated by movement of the bubble. The device is on a level surface when the bubble...
level premium
...the premium-paying period, or it may be issued with a premium that increases periodically according to the age of the insured. Practically all ordinary life insurance policies are issued on a level-premium basis, which makes it necessary to charge more than the true cost of the insurance in the earlier years of the contract in order to make up for much higher costs in the later years; the......
level surface (geophysics)
...the vertical. Horizontal differences in density (due to variations of temperature and salinity) measured along a specific depth cause the hydrostatic pressure to vary along a horizontal plane or geopotential surface, a surface perpendicular to the direction of the gravity acceleration. Horizontal gradients of pressure, though much smaller than vertical changes in pressure, give rise to ocean......
level-tone language (linguistics)
The Thai tones are as follows: level (using no diacritic), low (using a grave accent), falling (using a circumflex), high (using an acute accent), and rising (using a wedge, or haček); for example, maa (with no diacritic) ‘to come,’ màak (with a grave accent) ‘areca nut,’ mâak (with a circumflex) ‘much,’ m...
Leveler (English history)
member of a republican and democratic faction in England during the period of the Civil Wars and Commonwealth. The name Levelers was given by enemies of the movement to suggest that its supporters wished to “level men’s estates.”...
Levelers, Organization of (Japanese organization)
...than was done for U.S. blacks after the American Civil War). Not until the 20th century did groups of burakumin begin organizing for their cause; in 1922 a national organization, Suiheisha (Organization of Levelers), was created, and it engaged in various school boycotts, tax revolts, and other protests until its disbandment in 1941. After World War II, in 1946, a more militant and......
Leveller (English history)
member of a republican and democratic faction in England during the period of the Civil Wars and Commonwealth. The name Levelers was given by enemies of the movement to suggest that its supporters wished to “level men’s estates.”...
levelling effect (chemistry)
...→ BH+ + CH3CO2−. All such bases therefore give solutions with indistinguishable acid–base properties; this is often referred to as a levelling effect of the solvent. The converse is true for acids; for example, the strong mineral acids, nitric, hydrochloric, sulfuric, hydrobromic, and perchloric (HNO3, HCl,......
levels-of analysis question (political science)
Central to neorealist structural theory is the levels-of-analysis question—i.e., the question of whether international inquiry should be focused at the individual, state, international-system, or other level. Introduced in the 1950s as part of an attempt to make research in international relations more scientific, the levels-of-analysis question provided a conceptual basis for addressing......
Leven, Alexander Leslie, 1st earl of, Lord Balgonie (Scottish army commander)
commander of the Scottish army that from 1644 to 1646 fought on the side of Parliament in the English Civil Wars between Parliament and King Charles I....
Leven, Loch (lake, Scotland, United Kingdom)
lake in Perth and Kinross council area, central Scotland, at the centre of the historic county of Kinross-shire. Roughly circular in shape and about 3 miles (5 km) in diameter, it is one of the shallowest of the Scottish lochs—with a mean depth of 15 feet (4.5 metres)—and has become important...
leven van Rozeke van Dalen, Het (work by Buysse)
...Lemonnier, and Guy de Maupassant. His novel paints a grim picture of the life of the Flemish peasantry and reflects more generally on man’s inhumanity to man. In such subsequent works as Het leven van Rozeke van Dalen (1906; “The Life of Rozeke van Dalen”), he shunned the raw sentimentality of his early writings. His novel Het ezelken (1910; ...
levend (Ottoman rebel band)
...to the cities, exacerbating the food shortage, and reacted against their troubles by rising against the established order; many more remained in the countryside and joined rebel bands, known as levends and Jelālīs (Celâlis), which took what they could from those who remained to cultivate and trade....
Levene, Phoebus Aaron Theodor (American chemist)
Russian-born American chemist and pioneer in the study of nucleic acids....
Levens, Peter (English lexicographer)
...was brought together by his students in the course of their exercises, and the title Alveary was to commemorate their “beehive” of industry. The first rhyming dictionary, by Peter Levens, was produced in 1570—Manipulus Vocabulorum. A Dictionary of English and Latin Words, Set Forth in Such Order, as None Heretofore Hath Been....
Leventon, Alla (Russian actress)
Russian-born and Russian-trained actress who won fame on the American stage and screen....
Leventritt Foundation (American organization)
...He made his Carnegie Hall (New York City) debut in 1963 and won the prestigious Leventritt Prize a year later, which brought him immediate engagements with major American orchestras. (The Leventritt Foundation awarded its violin and piano prizes only sporadically; the rarity of the prize and the value of the guaranteed engagements that came with it separated the Leventritt from other......
lever (mechanics)
simple machine used to amplify physical force. All early people used the lever in some form, for moving heavy stones or as digging sticks for land cultivation. The principle of the lever was used in the swape, or shaduf, a long lever pivoted near one end with a platform or water container hanging from the short arm and counterweights attached...
Lever Art Gallery (museum, Bebington, England, United Kingdom)
in Port Sunlight, a model village founded for workers in Bebington, Cheshire (now in Merseyside), Eng. The museum was a gift to the public of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme, as a memorial to his wife, who died in 1913. The building was begun in 1914 and opened in December 1922. The collection of works exhibited at the gallery was formed by Lord Leverhulme and records his personal taste, which was str...
Lever Brothers (British company)
predecessor company of Unilever....
Lever, Charles James (British author)
Irish editor and writer whose novels, set in post-Napoleonic Ireland and Europe, featured lively, picaresque heroes....
lever escapement (watchmaking)
considered England’s greatest watchmaker, who was the inventor of the lever escapement, the most dependable and widely used device for regulating the movement of the spring-driven watch....
Lever House (building, New York City, New York, United States)
American architect and corecipient (with Oscar Niemeyer) of the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1988. His design of the Lever House skyscraper in New York City (1952) exerted a strong influence in American architecture....
Lever of Manchester, Harold Lever, Baron (British politician)
BARON, British millionaire, Labour Party politician, and economic adviser to Labour Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan (b. Jan. 15, 1914--d. Aug. 6, 1995)....
leverage (finance)
It is often profitable to increase the proportion of debt in the firm’s capital structure, because borrowed funds may earn more than their interest cost. This is known as “leverage” or “trading on the equity.” In a capital structure of $100,000, for example, of which $50,000 represents bondholders’ investment at an interest rate of 5 percent and $50,000 re...
leverage ratio (finance)
It is often profitable to increase the proportion of debt in the firm’s capital structure, because borrowed funds may earn more than their interest cost. This is known as “leverage” or “trading on the equity.” In a capital structure of $100,000, for example, of which $50,000 represents bondholders’ investment at an interest rate of 5 percent and $50,000 re...
Leverhulme of The Western Isles, William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount, Baron Leverhulme of Bolton-le-Moors (British entrepreneur)
British soap and detergent entrepreneur who built the international firm of Lever Brothers....
Leverkusen (Germany)
city, North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), west-central Germany. It lies on the Rhine River at the mouth of the Wupper River, in the Dhünn valley, just north of Cologne. Formed in 1930 by the union of the villages of Schlebusch, Rheindorf, and Steinbüchel with the...
Levert, Eddie (American singer)
American vocal group that rose to the forefront of the Philadelphia soul movement of the 1970s. The O’Jays’ origins date to the late 1950s, when childhood friends Eddie Levert (b. June 16, 1942Canton, Ohio, U.S.) and Walter......
Levert, Gerald (American singer)
American singer (b. July 13, 1966, Philadelphia, Pa.—d. Nov. 10, 2006, Cleveland, Ohio), was a powerful and soulful vocalist whose string of R&B hits included “I Swear,” “I’d Give Anything,” and “Baby Hold on to Me,” a duet with his father, Eddie Levert, Sr., a member of the O’Jays singing group. Levert scored hits in the 1980s ...
Levertin, Oscar Ivar (Swedish poet and scholar)
Swedish poet and scholar, a leader of the Swedish Romantic movement of the 1890s....
Levertov, Denise (American poet)
English-born American poet, essayist, and political activist who wrote deceptively matter-of-fact verse on both personal and political themes....
Leveson-Gower, Granville George, 2nd Earl Granville (British statesman)
British foreign secretary in William E. Gladstone’s first and second administrations, succeeding him as leader of the Liberal Party....
Lévesque, Georges-Henri (Canadian clergyman and educator)
Canadian cleric and educator (b. Feb. 16, 1903, Roberval, Que.—d. Jan. 15, 2000, Quebec, Que.), was instrumental in bringing about Quebec’s “Quiet Revolution,” the period of social change and modernization that the province experienced from 1960 to 1966. Ordained in the ...
Lévesque, René (premier of Quebec)
premier of the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec (1976–85) and a leading advocate of sovereignty for that province....
Levet, Pierre (French bookseller)
...trace of him vanishes. Still, it is a wonder that any of his poetry should have survived, and there exist about 3,000 lines, the greater part published as early as 1489 by the Parisian bookseller Pierre Levet, whose edition served as the basis for some 20 more in the next century. Apart from the works mentioned, there are also 12 single ballades and rondeaux (basically 13-line poems with a......
Levi (Hebrew patriarch)
...a Canaanitish people). Because Shechem then wished to marry Dinah, Hamor suggested to Jacob that their two peoples initiate a policy of commercial and social intercourse. Dinah’s brothers Simeon and Levi pretended to agree to the marriage and the covenant if Shechem and all the other males of the city of Shechem were circumcised. After the operations, while the men were still weakened, S...
Levi (apostle)
one of the Twelve Apostles, traditional author of the first Synoptic Gospel....
Levi and Sarah, or, The Jewish Lovers: A Polish Tale (work by Niemcewicz)
...publishing Śpiewy historyczne (1816; “Historical Songs”), a series of simple song poems that became very popular, and Lebje i Sióra (1821; Levi and Sarah, or, The Jewish Lovers: A Polish Tale), the first Polish novel to discuss the problems of Jews in Polish society. In 1831 he journeyed to England to attempt to persuade the......
Levi ben Gershom (French scholar)
French Jewish mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, and Talmudic scholar....