Random Image

You are here: Random Image > Words beginning with z > Random Image for zarema

Possible definitions for zarema

harem
In Muslim countries, that part of a house set apart for the women of the family or from which nonfamily males are excluded. Harems existed in the pre-Islamic civilizations of the Middle East; in the courts of pre-Islamic Assyria, Persia, and Egypt, they were often the sites of political intrigues involving rival court factions. Large harems for wives and concubines were common in wealthy Arab households into the 20th cent.; the great harem of the Turkish sultans (15th-20th cent.) contained several hundred women, guarded by eunuchs. By the later 20th cent., the full harem system existed only among conservative elements of Arab society. The harem also existed in the courts of China and Japan as well as in India and S.E. Asia.


karma
In Indian philosophy, the influence of an individual's past actions on his future lives or reincarnations. It is based on the conviction that the present life is only one in a chain of lives (see samsara). The accumulated moral energy of a person's life determines his or her character, class status, and disposition in the next life. The process is automatic, and no interference by the gods is possible. In the course of a chain of lives, people can perfect themselves and reach the level of Brahma, or they can degrade themselves to the extent that they return to life as animals. The concept of karma, basic to Hinduism, was also incorporated into Buddhism and Jainism.


Parma
City (pop, 1996 est.: 166,000), Emilia-Romagna region, N Italy, on the Parma River. Founded by the Romans in 183 BC, it became an episcopal see in the 4th cent. AD. It was destroyed by the Ostrogoths under Theodoric I, but was rebuilt in the Middle Ages. Made part of the duchy of Parma and Piacenza in 1545, it was held by the Farnese family and later passed to the Austrians. In 1815 Napoleon gave the city to his second consort, Marie-Louise. In 1861 it became part of united Italy. It was badly damaged during World War II, but was rebuilt. It is the commercial center of an agricultural region and is famous for its parmesan cheese. Sites of interest include the 12th-cent. Romanesque cathedral, the 13th-cent. baptistery, and the university (founded in the 11th cent.).


racemate
Mixture of equal quantities of two enantiomers, substances whose molecular structures are mirror images of one another (see isomer). The two enantiomers rotate polarized light through opposite angles, canceling each other out so that the racemic mixture has no optical activity. Racemization is the conversion of an optically active form of a compound into a racemic mixture; reversing this process is called resolution.


Saramago
Portuguese novelist. From a poor family, Saramago was unable to finish university but continued his studies part-time while working in a welder's shop. Later he moved into journalism and translation work. He published his first novel, Country of Sin, in 1947 but ...

Top words beginning with Z: zavala, zincpoisoning, zoniferous, zarabanda, zalambdodont, zafar, zwanziger, zyogodactylies, zoris, zoftig, zygomycetous, zonata, zwitterion, zalusky, zek, zoonic, zizzling, zoogeographies, zecchino, zappiest

More words beginning with Z.

Browse the alphabet: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z