History Key Words
Analyse
To study or examine something in detail to find out more about it.
Anglo-Saxons A tribe of people from Germany who settled in England. Describes
all the people who lived in England from AD 600.
Archaeology
The study of the buildings, graves, tools and other objects that
belonged to people who lived in the past.
Archives
A collection of historical records.
Bias
To support a person or group in an unfair way, allowing personal
opinion to be used to distort judgements.
Cause
The reason why something has happened.
Century
A period of 100 years.
Change
Something that has become different.
Chronology
The order in which events happened.
Civilisation
A developed and organised society (have political and legal
organisation).
Conquest
When a country is taken over by another.
Consequence
The result of something happening.
Context
The situation within which something happens.
Continuity
Something that has happened for a long time and has not stopped.
Danegeld
A tax raised to pay Viking invaders to save their land from being
ravaged.
Decade
A period of 10 years.
Describe
To say or write what someone or something is like.
Difference
The fact that people or things look different or have changed.
Dissolution
The act of ending an official organisation.
Dynasties
A series of rulers or leaders from the same family or period of time
when a country is ruled by them.
Emperor
A ruler of an empire.
Empire
A group of countries ruled by a single person, government or
country.
Era
A period of time when particular events or developments are
typical.
Evidence
One or more reasons for knowing that something is or is not true.
Hunter-gatherers Living by hunting and gathering food rather than farming it.
Interpretations An explanation or opinion on something.
Invasion
When an army or country uses force to take over another country.
Millennium
A period of 1000 years.
Monarch
A king or queen.
Narratives
A story or a description of events.
Neolithic
A time when people used tools and weapons made from stone and
had just developed farming.
Opinion
A thought or belief about something or someone.
Parliament
A group of people who make laws for their country (usually voted I
into power).
Past
Referring to a period of time that has already happened.
Peasantry
All the people who were peasants.
Peasants
A person who owns or rents a small piece of land and grows crops,
keeps animals on it. (Especially someone who has little money, no
education and has a low social position.)
Period
A length of time.
Present
The period of time that is happening now.
Primary Source Direct evidence from the time and place. They were produced by
eyewitnesses or participants in the actual event under study.
Republic
A country without a king or queen.
Romanisation
The process of becoming Roman (and being controlled by the
Roman Empire).
Secondary source
Information that has been produced by someone who has
not witnessed or participated in the actual event under study.
(Secondary sources interpret the primary sources.)
Significance
The importance of something.
Similarity
The fact that people or things look the same.
Society
A large group of people who live together in an organised way,
making decisions about how to do things and sharing the work.
Source
Items/objects from where information about a particular time or
event can be found. Examples include photographs, letters,
artefacts, diaries, poetry, memoirs, cartoons, census records, films,
radio broadcasts, paintings, speeches, maps, autobiographies,
fiction amongst others.
Timeline
A line on which dates and events are written in the order in which
they happened.
Viking
A person belonging to a race of Scandinavian people who travelled
by sea and attacked parts of northern and southern Europe
between 700 and 1000.
BC
Before Christ – used to date events before the birth of Jesus.
AD
‘anno Domini’, means in the year of the Lord. Used to date events
after Jesus’s birth.
BCE
Before the Common Era (the same as BC but has nothing to do
with Christianity).
CE
Common Era (the same as AD but has nothing to do with
Christianity).
History Key Words
Measuring time
BC
Before Christ – used to date events before the birth of Jesus.
AD
‘anno Domini’, means in the year of the Lord. Used to date events
after Jesus’s birth.
BCE
Before the Common Era (the same as BC but nothing to do with
Christianity).
CE
Common Era (the same as AD but has nothing to do with
Christianity).
Century
A period of 100 years.
Chronology
The order in which events happened.
Decade
A period of 10 years.
Millennium
A period of 1000 years.
Era
A period of time when particular events or developments are
typical.
Past
Referring to a period of time that has already happened.
Period
A length of time.
Present
The period of time that is happening now.
Timeline
A line on which dates and events are written in the order in which
they happened.