See Also: pendant(encyclopedia)
pendant(dictionary)
pendant(dictionary)
pendant(medicine)
Pendant - Sailing(gambling)
roof pendant(encyclopedia)
American(dictionary)
Pan American(tourism)
un-American(dictionary)
AMERICAN GREETINGS(finance)

American Samoa (sh) and pendant (medicine)


American Samoa (sh)




officially Territory of American Samoa

Unincorporated U.S. territory (pop., 2000: 57,291), southwest-central Pacific Ocean.

It includes the islands of Tutuila (the largest, with over two-thirds of the territory's land area and 95% of the population), Aunuu, Rose, Swains, and the Manua group. Area: 77 sq mi (199 sq km). Capital: Pago Pago (on Tutuila). Languages: Samoan, English (both official). Currency: U.S. dollar. Most of the islands are rocky, formed from extinct volcanoes, and are surrounded by coral reefs. Tutuila and the islands of Manua are dominated by central mountain ranges. Fishing and tourism are major Industries, but the U.S. administration is the main employer. The majority of the population is of Samoan ancestry. The islands were probably inhabited by Polynesians 2,500 years ago. Dutch explorers became the first Europeans to visit the islands in 1722. A haven for runaway sailors and escaped convicts, the islands were ruled by local chiefs until งใ 1860. The U.S. gained the right to establish a naval station at Pago Pago in 1872, and the U.S., Britain, and Germany administered a tripartite protectorate in 1889-99. The high chiefs ceded the eastern islands to the U.S. in 1904 (Britain ceded Swains in 1925). American Samoa was administered by the U.S. Department of the Navy until 1951 and afterward by the Department of the Interior. Its first constitution was approved in 1960, and in 1978 the territory's first elected governor took office.


pendant (medicine)


pendant


1. Something which hangs or depends; something suspended; a hanging appendage, especially one of an ornamental character; as to a chandelier or an eardrop; also, an appendix or addition, as to a book. "Some hang upon the pendants of her ear." (Pope) "Many . . . Have been pleased with this work and its pendant, the Tales and Popular Fictions." (Keightley)

2. A hanging ornament on roofs, ceilings, etc, much used in the later styles of Gothic architecture, where it is of stone, and an important part of the construction. There are imitations in plaster and wood, which are mere decorative features. "[A bridge] with . . . Pendants graven fair."

3. One of a pair; a counterpart; as, one vase is the pendant to the Other vase.

4. A pendulum.

5. The stem and ring of a watch, by which it is suspended. Pendant post, a part of the framing of an open timber roof; a post set close against the wall, and resting upon a corbel or Other solid support, and supporting the ends of a collar beam or any part of the roof.

Origin: F, orig. P.pr. Of pendre to hang, L. Pendere. Cf. Pendent, Pansy, Pensive, Poise, Ponder.

Source: Websters Dictionary