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Cosby, Bill
U.S. television actor and producer.
Cosgrave, William Thomas
Irish statesman, first president (1922–32) of the Irish Free State.
Cosimo I
Second duke of Florence (1537–74) and first grand duke of Tuscany (1569–74).
Cosmati work
Type of decorative inlay or mosaic used by Roman decorators and architects in the 12th–13th centuries.
cosmetics
Any of several preparations (excluding soap) applied to the human body for beautifying, preserving, or altering the appearance or for cleansing, colouring, conditioning, or protecting the skin, hair, nails, lips, eyes, or teeth.
cosmic background radiation
Electromagnetic radiation, mostly in the microwave range, believed to be the highly redshifted residual effect (see redshift) of the explosion billions of years ago from which, according to the big-bang model, the universe was created.
cosmic ray
High-speed particle (atomic nucleus or electron) that travels through the Milky Way Galaxy.
cosmological argument
Form of argument used in natural theology to prove the existence of God.
cosmological constant
Term reluctantly added by Albert Einstein to his equations of general relativity in order to obtain a solution to the equations that described a static universe, as he believed it to be at the time.
cosmology
Field of study that brings together the natural sciences, especially astronomy and physics, in an effort to understand the physical universe as a unified whole.
cosmos
Any of the garden plants that make up the genus Cosmos (composite family), containing about 20 species native to the tropical New World.
Cossacks
Peoples dwelling in the northern hinterlands of the Black and Caspian seas.
cost
Monetary value of goods and services that producers and consumers purchase.
cost of living
Monetary cost of maintaining a particular standard of living, usually measured by calculating the average cost of a number of goods and services.
cost-benefit analysis
In governmental planning and budgeting, the attempt to measure the social benefits of a proposed project in monetary terms and compare them with its costs.
Costa Rica
Country, Central America.
Costa-Gavras, Constantine
Greek-French film director.
Côte d'Azur
Region bordering the Mediterranean Sea, southeastern France.
Côte d'Ivoire
Country, western Africa.
Cotonou
Port city (pop., 1998: 649,580), de facto capital of Benin.
Cotopaxi
Volcanic peak in the Andes Mountains, central Ecuador.
cotton
Seed-hair fibre of various plants of the genus Gossypium, in the mallow family, native to most subtropical countries.
Cotton Belt
Agricultural region of the southeastern U.S. where cotton is the main cash crop.
Cotton Club
Nightclub in New York City's Harlem district in the 1920s and '30s.
cotton gin
Machine for cleaning cotton of its seeds.
Cotton, John
Anglo-American Puritan leader.
Cotton, Sir Robert Bruce
English antiquarian.
cottonwood
Any of several fast-growing North American trees of the genus Populus.
cottony-cushion scale
Scale insect (Icerya purchasi, order Homoptera) that is a pest especially of California citrus trees.
cotyledon
Seed leaf within the embryo of a seed that provides energy and nutrients for the developing seedling.
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