Dutch Guiana See Suriname
Dutch language West Germanic language spoken by more than 20 million people in The Netherlands, northern Belgium, and a small corner of northern France; it is also an official language in Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. Though English-speakers are accustomed to calling the main Germanic language of The Netherlands “Dutch” and that of Bel¬ gium “Flemish,” the two are regarded as the same language, called Ned- erlands in both countries, where efforts have been made to unify spelling and literary usage. Many Dutch-speakers command both a local dialect and Standard Dutch, based approximately on the speech of the major urban centres of North Holland and South Holland. “Flemish” (or Dutch in Belgium) has its own phonetic and lexical regionalisms.
Dutch Reformed Church See Reformed church
Dutch Republic officially Republic of the United Netherlands
Former state (1581-1795), about the size of the modern kingdom of The Netherlands. It consisted of the seven northern Netherlands provinces that formed the Union of Utrecht in 1579 and declared independence from Spain in 1581 (finally achieved in 1648). Political control shifted between the province of Holland and the princes of Orange. In the 17th century the Dutch Republic developed into a world colonial empire far out of pro¬ portion to its resources, emerging as a centre of international finance and a cultural capital of Europe. In the 18th century the republic’s colonial empire was eclipsed by that of England. In 1795 the Dutch Republic col¬ lapsed under the impact of a Dutch democratic revolution and invading French armies.
Dutch Wars See Anglo-Dutch Wars
Dutchman's-breeches Plant (Dicentra cucullaria ) of the fumitory family (Fumariaceae) named for its sprays of tremulous, yellow-tipped white flowers that fancifully resemble the wide-legged, tradi¬ tional pantaloons worn by Dutch men. The plant is native throughout eastern and mid western North America, usually in open woodlands.
The gray-green foliage grows from white underground tubers and is not as tall as the flowering stalk, which also springs directly from the ground.
Dutchman's-pipe Climbing vine (Aristolochia durior), also called pipe vine, of the birthwort family (Aristolochiaceae), native to central and eastern North America. It bears heart-shaped or kidney-shaped
Dutchman's-breeches (Dicentra cuc¬ ullaria).
JOHN H. GERARD
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
584 I Duvalier ► dynamite
leaves and yellowish-brown or purplish-brown tubular flowers resembling a curved pipe. Exhibiting rapid growth, Dutchman’s-pipe is often planted as a screen or an orna¬ mental on porches and arbors.
Duvalier \du-'val-ya\, Francois known as Papa Doc (b. April 14,
1907, Port-au-Prince, Haiti—d.
April 21, 1971, Port-au-Prince)
President of Haiti (1957-71). After receiving his M.D. in 1934, Duvalier was appointed director general of the National Public Health Service in 1946 under Pres. Dumarsais Estime.
When Estime was overthrown by Paul Magloire, Duvalier led the opposition and assumed the presidency soon after Magloire’s resignation in 1956. He reduced the size of the military and organized the Tontons Macoutes (“Bogeymen”), a private force that terrorized and assassinated alleged foes of his regime. He played on the culture of vodun to intimidate the opposition as well. Promoting a cult of his person as the semidivine embodiment of the nation, he declared himself president for life in 1964. His regime’s corruption and despotism isolated Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere, from the rest of the world. His 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude Duvalier (“Baby Doc”; b. 1951), succeeded him on his death. A weak ruler dominated by his mother and later by his wife, Baby Doc instituted slight reforms, but increasing social unrest forced him to flee into exile in France in 1986.
Dvaravati \dvo-'ra-v3-te\ Ancient kingdom of Southeast Asia (fl. 6th- 13th centuries). The first Mon kingdom established in what is now Thai¬ land, it had early commercial and cultural contact with India, which influenced Mon sculpture, writing, law, and governmental forms. Con¬ quered in turn by the Burmans (Burmese), the Khmer, and the Tai (Thai), the Dvaravati Mon passed on Indian culture to their conquerers.
DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. Like a CD drive, a DVD drive uses a low-power laser to read digitized (binary) data that have been encoded onto the disc in the form of tiny pits. Because it uses a digital format, a DVD can store any kind of data, including movies, music, text, and graphical images. DVDs are available in single- and double-sided versions, with one or two layers of information per side. Single-sided DVDs have become standard media for recorded motion pictures, largely replacing videotape in the home market. A double-sided, dual-layer version can store about 30 times as much information as a standard CD. DVDs are made in a ROM (read¬ only memory) format as well as in erasable (DVD-E) and recordable (DVD-R) formats. Though DVD players can usually read CDs, CD play¬ ers cannot read DVDs. It is expected that DVDs will eventually replace CDs, especially for multimedia workstations.
Dvina River, Northern See Northern Dvina River Dvina River, Western See Western Dvina River
Dvorak \'v6r-,zhak, do-'vor-.zhakX, Antonin (Leopold) (b. Sept. 8, 1841, Nelahozeves, Bohemia, Austrian Empire—d. May 1, 1904, Prague) Bohemian (Czech) composer. Son of a rural innkeeper and butcher, he was permitted to attend organ school in Prague in 1857. He played viola in a theatre orchestra, often under the Czech nationalist composer Bedrich Smetana, and eventually found employment that left him ample time for composition. Johannes Brahms assisted in getting Dvorak’s works pub¬ lished, and by 1880 his fame had spread throughout Europe. While serv¬ ing as director of New York’s new National Conservatory of Music (1892-95) he composed the symphony From the New World (1893), his best-known work, which is thought to be based on black spirituals and other American influences. His music frequently draws on folk tunes and is seen as an expression of Czech nationalism. Highly prolific, he is pri¬ marily known for his orchestral and chamber compositions; his works include 9 symphonies, concertos for piano, violin, and cello, 2 serenades, several tone poems, 14 string quartets, 2 piano quartets, and 2 piano quin¬ tets. His many piano works include the four-hand Slavonic Dances (1878, 1886). His sacred music includes a Stabat Mater (1877), a Requiem (1890), and a Te Deum (1892). Of his 13 operas, only Rusalka (1900) is still performed.
dwarf star Any star of average or low luminosity, mass, and size, including white dwarf stars and red dwarf stars. Dwarf stars include most main-sequence stars (see Hertzsprung-Russell diagram), including the Sun. Their colour can range from blue to red, corresponding to temperatures varying from over 17,500 °F (10,000 °C) to a few thousand degrees.
dwarfism Growth retardation resulting in abnormally short adult stat¬ ure. It is caused by a variety of hereditary and metabolic disorders. Pitu¬ itary dwarfism is caused by insufficient growth hormone. Hereditary dwarfisms include achondroplasia, with normal trunk size but short limbs and a large head; hypochondroplasia, similar except for normal head size; and diastrophic dwarfism, with progressive, crippling skeletal deformi¬ ties. Intelligence is normal in these forms of dwarfism. Some kinds include mental retardation. Dwarfism may also result from inadequate nutrition in early life (see rickets).