Dickinson, John (b. Nov. 8, 1732, Talbot county, Md.—d. Feb. 14, 1808, Wilmington, Del., U.S.) American statesman. He represented Penn¬ sylvania at the 1765 Stamp Act Congress and drafted the Congress’s dec¬ laration of rights and grievances. He won fame in 1767-68 as the author of the Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies, which influenced opinion against the Townshend Acts. A delegate to the Continental Congress, he helped draft the Articles of Confederation. Hoping for conciliation with the British, he voted against the Declaration of Independence. As a Delaware delegate to the Constitu¬ tional Convention, he signed the U.S. Constitution and urged its adoption in a series of letters signed “Fabius.” He is sometimes called the “pen¬ man of the Revolution.”
dicot See cotyledon, flowering plant
dictator In the Roman republic, a temporary magistrate with extraordi¬ nary powers. Nominated in times of crisis by a consul, recommended by the Senate, and confirmed by the Comitia Curiata, the dictator’s term was six months or the duration of the crisis, and he had authority over all other magistrates. By 300 bc his powers were limited; no dictators were cho¬ sen after 202. The dictatorships of Sulla and Julius Caesar were a new form with almost unlimited powers. Caesar became dictator for life just before his assassination; afterward the office was abolished.
dictatorship Form of government in which one person or an oligarchy possesses absolute power without effective constitutional checks. With constitutional democracy, it is one of the two chief forms of government in use today. Modern dictators usually use force or fraud to gain power
and then keep it through intimidation, terror, suppression of civil liber¬ ties, and control of the mass media. In 20th-century Latin America, nation¬ alist leaders often achieved power through the military and attempted either to maintain the privileged elite or to institute far-reaching social reform, depending on their class sympathies. In Europe’s communist and fascist dictatorships, a charismatic leader of a mass party used an official ideology to maintain his regime, and terror and propaganda to suppress opposition. In postcolonial Africa and Asia, dictators have often retained power by establishing one-party rule after a military takeover.
dictionary Reference work that lists words, usually in alphabetical order, and gives their meanings and often other information such as pro¬ nunciations, etymologies, and variant spellings. The earliest dictionaries, such as those created by Greeks of the 1 st century ad, emphasized changes that had occurred in the meanings of words over time. The close juxta¬ position of languages in Europe led to the appearance, from the early Middle Ages on, of many bilingual and multilingual dictionaries. The movement to produce an English dictionary was partly prompted by a desire for wider literacy, so that common people could read Scripture, and partly by a frustration that no regularity in spelling existed in the lan¬ guage. The first purely English dictionary was Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabetical (1604), treating some 3,000 words. In 1746-47 Samuel Johnson undertook the most ambitious English dictionary to that time, a list of 43,500 words. Noah Webster’s dictionary of Americanisms in the early 19th century sprang from a recognition of the changes and varia¬ tions within language. The immense Oxford English Dictionary was begun in the late 19th century. Today there are various levels of dictionaries, general-purpose dictionaries being most common. Modern lexicographers (dictionary makers) describe current and past language but rarely pre¬ scribe its use.
Diderot \ded-'roV Denis (b. Oct. 5, 1713, Langres, France—d. July 31, 1784, Paris) French man of let¬ ters and philosopher. Educated by Jesuits, Diderot later received degrees from the University of Paris.
From 1745 to 1772 he served as chief editor of the 35-volume Ency- clopedie, a principal work of the Enlightenment. He composed such influential works as Letter on the Deaf and Dumb (1751), which stud¬ ies the function of language, and Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature (1754), acclaimed as the method of philosophical inquiry of the 18th century. The first great art critic, he was especially admired posthumously for his Essay on Painting (written 1765). His novels include The Nun (written 1760) and Rameau’s Nephew (finished 1774); he also wrote plays and theoretical works on drama. See also Jean Le Rond d’ Alembert.
Didion, Joan (b. Dec. 5, 1934, Sacramento, Calif., U.S.) U.S. novelist and essayist. Her writing explores disorder and personal and social unrest. Her first novel was published in 1963; later novels include Play It as It Lays (1970), A Book of Common Prayer (1977), Democracy (1984), and The Last Thing He Wanted (1996). Her essay collections Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1968) and The White Album (1979) are perceptive, clear-eyed analyses of American culture. With her husband, John Gregory Dunne, she has written a number of screenplays, including A Star Is Born
(1976).
Dido \'di-do \ In Greek legend, the founder of Carthage. She fled to North Africa after the murder of her husband and bought land from a local chieftain, Iarbas. She killed herself rather than marry him. Virgil altered the story in his Aeneid, in which Dido welcomes Aeneas to Carthage dur¬ ing his travels, becomes his lover, and kills herself when he abandons her.
Didot family \de-'do\ Family of French printers, publishers, and type¬ founders. The family had a profound influence on the history of typog¬ raphy. Francois Didot (1689-1759) went into business as a printer and bookseller in Paris in 1713. Three successive generations kept the firm
Denis Diderot, oil painting by Louis- Michel van Loo, 1767; in the Louvre, Paris.
GIRAUDON/ART RESOURCE, NEW YORK
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544 I Didrikson ► dieting
flourishing into the 19th century. Under Francois’s elder son, Fran^ois- Ambroise (1730-1804), the Didot point system of 72 points to the French inch became the standard unit of type measurement, as it remains today. Francois-Ambroise changed the standard of type design by increasing the contrast between thick and thin letters. His sons Pierre (1761-1853) and Firmin (1764-1836) took charge of the printing and typefounding, respec¬ tively. Pierre published acclaimed editions of French and Latin classics, and Firmin designed the Didot typeface. Francois’s younger son, Pierre- Francois (1731-1793), and the latter’s two sons were also active in the business, as were Firmin’s three sons.
Didrikson, Babe See Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Didyma \'di-do-mo \ Ancient sanctuary, south of Miletus in modern Tur¬ key. Its temple, the seat of an oracle of Apollo, was plundered by the Per¬ sians c. 494 bc and resanctified after Alexander the Great conquered Miletus in 334 bc. About 300 bc the Milesians began to build a new temple, but it was never completed; the well-preserved remains were excavated in the early 20th century.