World History Semester Exam Vocabulary
Terms
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- republic
- System of government in which officials are chosen by the people
- consul
- In ancient Rome, official from the patrician class who supervised the government and commanded the armies
- prophet
- Spiritual leader believed to be interpreting God's will
- hijra
- Muhammed's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622
- scribe
- In ancient civilizations, specially trained person who knew how to read and write and keep records
- apprentice
- Young person learning a trade from a master
- capital
- Money for investment
- democracy
- Government in which the people hold ruling power
- fief
- In the Middle Ages, an estate granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for service and loyalty
- nomad
- Person who moves from place to place in search of food
- mercenary
- Soldier serving in a foreign army for pay
- heresy
- Religious belief that is contrary to the official teachings of the church
- tithe
- Payment to a church equal to one tenth of a person's income
- papyrus
- Plant that grows along the banks of the Nile; used by the ancient Egyptians to make a paper-like material
- cataract
- Waterfall
- historian
- Person who studies how people lived in the past
- stupa
- Large dome-like Buddhist shrine
- filial piety
- Respect for parents
- calligraphy
- Beautiful handwriting
- silt
- Rich soil carried by flooding rivers
- theology
- The study of religion
- delta
- Triangular area of marshland formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of some rivers
- daimyo
- Warrior lords directly below the shogun in feudal Japan
- hajj
- Pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lifetime
- alchemy
- Medieval science whose aim was to transform ordinary metals into gold
- plebian
- Member of the lower class in ancient Rome, including farmers, merchants, artisans, and traders
- steppe
- Sparse, dry grassland
- monotheistic
- Believing in one god
- czar
- Title of the ruler of the Russian empire
- hieroglyphics
- Form of picture writing developed by the ancient Egyptians
- glacier
- Thick sheet of ice that covered parts of the earth during the ice age
- tragedy
- In ancient Greece, a play that focused on human suffering and usually ended in disaster
- mosque
- Muslim house of worship
- nirvana
- In Buddhism, union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth
- sultan
- Muslim ruler
- prehistory
- Period of time before writing systems were invented
- reincarnation
- In Hinduism, belief in the rebirth of the soul in another bodily form
- technology
- Tools and skills people use to meet their basic needs
- ethics
- Moral standards of behavior
- sacrament
- Sacred ritual of the Roman Catholic Church
- satrap
- Governor of a province in the Persian empire
- dharma
- In Hindu belief, an individual's religious and moral duties
- monopoly
- Complete control of a product or business by one person or group
- shogun
- In Japanese feudal society, supreme military commander who held more power than the emperor
- comedy
- In ancient Greece, play that mocked people or social customs
- monarchy
- Government in which a king or queen exercises central power
- kabuki
- Form of Japanese drama developed in the 1600s
- samurai
- Member of the warrior class in Japanese feudal society
- cultural diffusion
- The spread of ideas, customs, and technologies from one people to another
- diaspora
- The scattering of the Jewish people from their homeland in Palestine; the scattering of African peoples as a result of the slave trade
- dictator
- Ruler who has complete control over a government; in ancient Rome, a leader appointed to rule for six months in times of emergency
- polytheistic
- Believing in many gods
- knight
- Noble in Europe who served as a mounted warrior for a lord in the Middle Ages
- patrician
- Member of the landholding upper class in ancient Rome
- aristocracy
- Government headed by a privileged minority or upper class
- mystic
- Person who devotes his or her life to seeking spiritual truths
- geography
- Study of people, their environments, and their resources
- anthropology
- Study of human beings and the societies they create
- dynastic circle
- Rise and fall of Chinese dynasties according to the Mandate of Heaven
- covenant
- Binding agreement
- martyr
- Person who suffers or dies for his or her beliefs
- oracle bone
- Bone used by priests in Shang China to predict the future
- anti-Semitism
- Prejudice against Jews
- patriarch
- In the Byzantine empire, highest church official in a major city
- veto
- Power to block a government action
- direct democracy
- System of government in which citizens participate directly rather than through elected representatives
- strait
- Narrow water passage connecting two bodies of water
- messiah
- Savior sent by God
- archipelago
- Chain of islands
- dynasty
- Ruling family
- excommunication
- Exclusion from the Roman Catholic Church as a penalty for refusing to obey Church laws
- caste
- In traditional Indian society, unchangeable social group into which a person is born
- karma
- In Hindu belief, all the actions that affect a person's fate in the next life
- longitude
- Distance east or west of the Prime Meridian
- jury
- Group of people sworn to make a decision in a legal case
- common law
- System of law based on court decisions that become accepted legal principles
- colony
- Territory settled and ruled by people from another land
- scholasticism
- In medieval Europe, school of thought that used logic and reason to support Christian belief
- rhetoric
- Art of skillful speaking
- brahman
- According to Aryan belief, the single spiritual power that resides in all things
- hierarchy
- System of ranks
- crusade
- Holy war
- artisan
- Skilled craftworker
- autocrat
- Ruler who has complete authority
- bushido
- Code of conduct for samurai during the feudal period in Japan
- icon
- Holy image of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or a saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church
- vassal
- In medieval Europe, a lord who was granted land in exchange for service and loyalty to a greater lord
- pharaoh
- Title of the rulers of ancient Egypt
- chivalry
- Code of conduct for knights during the Middle Ages
- bishop
- High-ranking Church official with authority over a local area, or diocese
- aqueduct
- In ancient Rome, bridge-like stone structure that carried water from the hills into the cities
- haiku
- Form of Japanese poetry that expresses a feeling, thought, or idea in three lines, or 17 syllables
- serf
- In medieval Europe, peasant bound to the lord's land
- ethnic group
- Large group of people who share the same language and cultural heritage
- clan
- Group of families with a common ancestor
- subcontinent
- Large landmass that juts out form a continent
- phalanx
- In ancient Greece, a massive formation of heavily armed foot soldiers
- vernacular
- Everyday language of ordinary people
- pagoda
- Multi-storied Buddhist temple
- acropolis
- Hilltop fortress of an ancient Greek city-state
- caliph
- Successor to Muhammed as political and religious leader of the Muslims
- latitude
- Distance north or south of the equator
- monsoon
- Seasonal wind
- ziggurat
- Pyramid-temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of an ancient Sumerian city-state
- vizier
- Chief minister who supervised the business of government in ancient Egypt
- demotic
- System of ancient Egyptian writing, simpler than hieroglyphics, that was developed for everyday use
- tributary state
- Independent state that has to acknowledge the supremacy of another state and pay tribute to its ruler
- legislature
- Lawmaking body
- schism
- Permanent division in a church
- archaeologist
- Scientist who studies the lives of early people through examination of their physical remains
- pope
- Head of the Roman Catholic Church
- empire
- Group of states or territories controlled by one ruler
- minaret
- Slender tower of a mosque from which Muslims are called to prayer
- mummification
- Practice of preserving the bodies of the dead
- artifact
- Object made by human beings
- civil law
- Body of law dealing with private rights of individuals
- barter economy
- System in which one set of goods or services is exchanged for another
- secular
- Having to do with worldly, rather than religious, matters
- city-state
- Political unit made up of a city and the surrounding lands
- oligarchy
- Government in which ruling power belongs to a few people
- pictogram
- Drawing used to represent a word
- sect
- Small religious group
- bureaucracy
- System of managing government through departments run by appointed officials
- tyrant
- In ancient Greece, ruler who gained power by force