World History
Vocabulary Terms
END OF COURSE PREPARATION
AGRARIAN
Related to agriculture
or farming.
URBAN
Big cities.
RURAL
Small town, rustic,
outside the city. Country.
ARABLE LAND
Land used for growing
crops. Good farm land.
SUBSISTENT
AGRICULTURE
Hand to mouth farming or
producing only enough
food for your existence.
*The poorest of nations lives like this. In contrast, the
USA is a commercial farming power.
CULTURAL DIFFUSION
The spreading of ideas
from one culture to
another culture.
Good example? The
Silk Road was used
to trade, but the
religion of Buddhism
was spread from
India to China.
PATRON
A person that supports
the arts (painters &
sculptors) financially.
*Good Example – The De Medici’s were patrons of
Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo during the
Renaissance.
FEUDALISM
Political and
social system
of medieval
Europe.
It is very
hierarchical.
OLIGARCHY
Rule by a
few men.
Good Examples:
Sparta – ruled by 2 kings
and 5 Ephors
Rome – 1st and 2nd
Triumvirate – Each
Triumvirate had 3 men that
were ruling the Roman
Empire.
EMANCIPATE OR
LIBERATE
To set free.
Example: Some Great liberators would include Lincoln,
and Simon Bolivar.
FASCISM
A dictator led government
based on extreme
nationalism and the
glorification of the leader.
Minority rights are not a
priority.
Good Example: Hitler was the
fascist dictator of Germany during
World War II.
TOTALITARIANISM
THIS INCLUDES: TOTALITARIAN DICTATORS, OR A
TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENTS.
An absolute dictator or a
government where all
decisions are made by the
government. They have
total power.
The most infamous totalitarian
dictators – Mussolini and Hitler,
Stalin and Mao.
ALLIANCE SYSTEM
An agreement or
relationship between two
or more
parties/countries.
Entangling
alliances were a
key cause of World
War I.
SECULAR
Worldly or nonreligious
in nature.
EXAMPLE – a king would be a secular authority.
INTIFADA
Uprising, revolt, rebellion.
Palestinians had an
intifada against Israel in
the Holy Land.
SUFFRAGE
The right
to vote.
SHARIAH
Islamic law.
MONARCHY
A king or a queen.