Introductory Vocab Flashcards
B.C.E
before common era
C.E
common era
abdicate
to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, claim, responsibility, or the like, especially in a formal manner.
accession
the attainment or acquisition of a position of rank or power, typically that of monarch or president.
aesthetic
a set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement.
amenities
a desirable or useful feature or facility of a building or place.
anarchy
a state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority or other controlling systems.
animism
the belief in a supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe.
antiquity
the ancient past, especially the period before the Middle Ages.
appeasement
a diplomatic negotiation policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power with intention to avoid conflict.
aristocracy
the highest class in certain societies, especially those holding hereditary titles or offices.
asceticism
severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.
assimilate
the process of becoming a part, or making someone become a part, of a group, country, society, etc
authoritarian
favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.
autocracy
a system of government by one person with absolute power.
barbarism
absence of culture and civilization.
bureaucracy
a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.
city-state
a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state.
civic
relating to a city or town, especially its administration; municipal.
classical
relating to ancient Greek or Latin literature, art, or culture.
colonial
relating to the period of the British colonies in America before independence.
commerce
the activity of buying and selling, especially on a large scale.
communal
hared or used in common by members of a group or community.
concubine
historical: (in polygamous societies) a woman who lives with a man but has lower status than his wife or wives.
archaic: a mistress
conscription
compulsory enlistment for state service, typically into the armed forces.
cosmoplitan
including or containing people from many different countries.
coup
a sudden, violent, and unlawful seizure of power from a government.
demography
the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease, which illustrate the changing structure of human populations.
despot
a ruler or other person who holds absolute power, typically one who exercises it in a cruel or oppressive way.
diaspora
a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin.
dissent
an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual.
dissident
a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution.
domestic
relating to someone’s family, home, or home country.
dynasty
a line of hereditary rulers of a country.
edict
a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism, but it can be under any official authority.
egalitarian
a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people.
elite
a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.
emigrate
leave one’s own country in order to settle permanently in another.
epic
a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation.
ethnocentric
evaluating other peoples and cultures according to the standards of one’s own culture.
feudalism
the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord’s land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.
genocide
the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
gentry
people of good social position, specifically (in the UK) the class of people next below the nobility in position and birth.
guild
a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.
hierarchy
a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.
hominids
a primate of a family ( Hominidae ) that includes humans and their fossil ancestors and also (in recent systems) at least some of the great apes.
homogenous
of the same or a similar kind or nature
ideology
a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.
imperialism
a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
indigenous
originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.
infrastructure
the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.
lineage
lineal descent from an ancestor; ancestry or pedigree.
linguistic
relating to language or linguistics.
manifest
a document listing the cargo, passengers, and crew of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle, for the use of customs and other officials.
maritime
connected with the sea, especially in relation to seafaring commercial or military activity.
martial
of or appropriate to war; warlike.
matralineal
of or based on kinship with the mother or the female line.
mercenary
a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military.
monarchy
a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication, generally inherited
monopoly
a market with the “absence of competition”, creating a situation where a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular thing.
monotheism
the doctrine or belief that there is only one God.
mystical
relating to mystics or religious mysticism.
nation-state
a sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent.
neo
a prefix, meaning a new and different form of something that existed in the past (such as a theory, style, language, or philosophy)
Neolithic
he later part of the Stone Age, when ground or polished stone weapons and implements prevailed.
nomadic
moving from one place to another rather than living in one place all of the time
oligarchy
a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
pantheon
a group of particularly respected, famous, or important people.
papacy
the office or authority of the Pope.
parliament
(in the UK) the highest legislature, consisting of the sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons.
pastoral
pertaining to the country or to life in the country; rural; rustic.
patriarchal
relating to or characteristic of a system of society or government controlled by men.
patrilineal
relating to or based on relationship to the father or descent through the male line.
patronage
the power to control appointments to office or the right to privileges.
peasant
a poor farmer of low social status who owns or rents a small piece of land for cultivation (chiefly in historical use or with reference to subsistence farming in poorer countries).
pharoah
the vernacular term often used for the monarchs of ancient Egypt, who ruled from the First Dynasty until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic in 30 BCE.
piety
reverence for God or devout fulfillment of religious obligations
polity
a form or process of civil government or constitution.
polygamy
the practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time
polytheism
the belief in or worship of more than one god.
proselytize
convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.
provincial
an inhabitant of a province of a country or empire.
regent
a person appointed to administer a country because the monarch is a minor or is absent or incapacitated.
republic
a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
rhetoric
the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
sedentary
(of a person) tending to spend much time seated; somewhat inactive.
serf
an agricultural laborer bound under the feudal system to work on their lord’s estate.
sharia
a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and hadith.
sinification
the process by which non-Chinese societies or groups are acculturated or assimilated into Chinese culture
state
a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government.
steppe
a dry, grassy plain.
stratification
the arrangement or classification of something into different groups.
Sub-Saharan
from or forming part of the African regions south of the Sahara desert.
subordinate
a person under the authority or control of another within an organization, or lower in rank or position
succession
the order in which or the conditions under which one person after another succeeds to a property, dignity, title, or throne.
syncretism
the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought.
textiles
an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc
theocracy
a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.
theology
the study of the nature of God and religious belief.
totalitarian
a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and controls the public sphere and the private sphere of society.
tributary state
a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power.
tyranny
cruel and oppressive government or rule.
urban
in, relating to, or characteristic of a town or city.
usurp
take (a position of power or importance) illegally or by force.
vernacular
the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region.
