Midterm Vocabulary Flashcards
(41 cards)
Monsoon
Def: the seasonal wind of the Indian Ocean and southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter
Bubonic Plague
Def:a serious, sometimes fatal, infection with the bacterial toxin Yersinia pestis, transmitted by fleas from infected rodents and characterized by high fever, weakness, and the formation of buboes, esp. in the groin and armpits
Hinduism
Def: the common religion of India, many popular cults, and a large pantheon symbolizing the many attributes of a single god
Buddhism
Def: the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated meditation releases one from desire, suffering, and rebirth
Reincarnation
Def: rebirth of the soul in another body
Moksha
Def: Hinduism freedom from the endless cycle of transmigration into a state of bliss
Nirvana
Def: Buddhism The ineffable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion.
Eightfold Path
Def: the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering (dukkha) and the achievement of self-awakening
Sanskrit
Def: is a historical Indo-Aryan language, the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and a literary and scholarly language in Buddhism and Jainism
Caste System
Def: a form of social stratification characterized by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural notions of purity and pollution
Cultural Diffusion
Def: the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies, languages etc.—between individuals, whether within a single culture or from one culture to another
Judaism
Def: the religion, philosophy and way of life of the Jewish people
Christianity
Def: a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as presented in the New Testament
Islam
Def: a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a book considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God and by the teachings and normative example of Muhammed, considered by them to be the last prophet of God
Ten Commandments
Def: a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Five Pillars
Def: five basic acts in Islam, considered obligatory by believers and are the foundation of Muslim life
Torah
Def: a central concept in the Jewish tradition
Animism
Def: the religious worldview that natural physical entities,including animals, plants, and often even inanimate objects or phenomena and possess a spiritual essence
Shintoism
Def: the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the people of Japan
Four Noble Truths
Def: the central doctrine of the Buddhist tradition, and are said to provide a conceptual framework for all of Buddhist thought
Polytheism
Def: the worship or belief in multiple deities usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religions and rituals
Monotheism
Def: the existence of one god or in the oneness of God
Code of Hammurabi
Def: a well-preserved Babylonian law code, dating back to about 1772 BC
Brahma
Def: the Hindu god (deva) of creation and one of the Trimūrti, the others being Viṣņu and Śiva
