History KS3 Vocab
Year 7 (400AD – 1500AD)
Roman Empire, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Norman Conquest, Medieval world, Wars of the Roses
Source:
Something which provides historical information.
Evidence:
Information used to create an argument about the past.
Provenance:
The origin of something – where something comes from (i.e. who made it?)
Roman:
Someone that lived in the Rome or was a citizen of the Roman Empire.
Emperor:
The ruler of an Empire.
Empire:
When a country or people rules over lots of others.
Governor:
Someone that rules on behalf of someone else.
Military:
The armed forces of a country or people
Trade:
The exchange of money and items between people.
Taxes:
Money collected by rulers from their people.
Economy:
Things to do with money in a society.
Barbarian:
Someone who is outside a society.
Invasion:
An attack from an enemy outside your country or area.
Anglo-Saxon:
A people that invaded England from Germany in the 400s AD.
Viking:
Raiders and invaders from Scandinavia from 800AD to 1100AD.
Norman:
A people that lived in Northern France (Normandy) and invaded England in 1066.
Medieval:
Things to do with the Middle Ages (1000AD-1500AD)
Castle:
A heavily fortified place where rulers/lords would live in with their soldiers.
Knight:
A professional soldier that was given land by a lord to rule.
Monarch:
The king/queen of a country.
Heir:
Someone who will inherit your lands and titles after you die.
Civil War:
A war between people of the same country.
Hierarchy:
A ranking of things.
Feudal system:
A social hierarchy established by William the Conqueror in England.
Religion:
What people pray and believe in.
Christianity:
The religion of Christians, revealed through Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Islam:
The religion of Muslims, revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah.
Pope:
The head of the Christian church.
Archbishop:
The leader of the Christian church in a country
Monasteries:
A place where monks (men who dedicate their lives to God) live as a community with rules.
Nunneries:
A place where nuns (women who dedicate their lives to God) live as a community with rules.
Abbeys:
The buildings occupied by monks/nuns.
Church/church:
The Christian organisation/The building where Christian worship happens.
Crusade:
A Christian religious war against Muslims or other religions.
Nobility:
People belonging to an upper class in society with a high social rank.
Peasant:
A labourer (often in farming) that is of low social class.
Rebellion:
An uprising by people in a country against their rulers.
Plague:
A deadly disease that spreads quickly and kills large numbers of people.
Year 8 (1500AD – 1900AD)
The Reformation, The Tudors, English Civil War, Industrial Revolution, Enlightenment, British Empire, Transatlantic slavery, Victorian England
Reformation:
A religious movement in the 1500s following the ideas of Martin Luther. The creation of the Protestant Church and the split from the Catholic Church.
Protestant:
A Christian who follows a Church separate from the Catholic one.
Catholic:
A Christian who follows the Catholic Church (with the Pope as the leader of the Church).
Excommunication:
To be thrown out of the Catholic Church.
Monarch:
A ruler / a King or a Queen.
Parliament:
In England, a group of people who represent the rest of the country (elected).
Civil War:
A war between people of the same country.
Superstition:
A supernatural belief (irrational, not based on science).
Revolution:
A forcible overthrow of a government in favour of a new system.
Enlightenment:
A movement based on new philosophies in the 17th and 18th centuries promoting reason and individualism rather than tradition and religion.
Industry:
When raw materials are processed and made into objects. To do with manufacturing and factories.
Agriculture:
To do with farming / growing food.
Factory:
A building where goods are made, mainly by machines.
Technology:
Using scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.
Empire:
When a country or people rules over lots of others.
Colony:
An area controlled by an Empire that is not in its home territory.
Slave:
A person who is forced to work for and obey, without pay and often no rights.
Workhouse:
A place where the poor receive a place to sleep and some food in exchange for hard manual work.
Class:
A system of ordering society where people are divided based on their economic status.
Upper class:
The social group with the highest status, often the aristocracy.
Middle class:
The social group which includes educated professionals / businesspeople and their families.
Working class:
The social group with the lowest status in society. Often have labour jobs.
Plantation:
An estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar and tobacco are grown.
Emancipation:
The process of being set free from legal, social or political restrictions.
Abolition:
The action of getting rid of a system or practice (like slavery).
Year 9 (1900AD – 2000AD)
Assassination:
The murder of someone.
Empire:
When a country or people rules over lots of others.
Colonies:
Areas controlled by an Empire across the world.
Monarch:
The ruler (king / queen) of a Kingdom.
Militarism:
The belief in having a strong military in your country.
Nationalism:
The belief that your country is the best / superior to others.
Alliance:
When two or more countries join together as a team to protect each other or attack another country.
Imperialism:
The belief in having a strong Empire.
Conflict:
A war or issue between two countries / people.
World War:
A war that involves many countries around the world together.
Trenches:
A system of open-air tunnels dug in the ground used in World War 1 as protection by the soldiers.
Artillery:
Big guns / cannons that are used to send bombs over large distances.
Tank:
A vehicle that is heavily armoured and can attack enemy soldiers. They use caterpillar wheels to cross difficult terrain.
Communism:
A political and economic belief about how to run a society. Communists believe that societies should not have a social hierarchy and all resources in a country should belong to all of society, and not just a few wealthy people. The government’s role is to organise society and make sure private property doesn’t exist or is limited.
Capitalism:
An economic belief about how to run a country’s economy. Capitalists believe that the best way to run an economy is to allow private property and let the free market control the production of goods and services.
Fascism:
A far-right political belief is, authoritarian and ultranationalist, characterized by a dictatorial leader that promotes one way of thinking, a hatred of foreigners or people that are different to the majority in a country. Fascist countries often have a big emphasis on their military strength.
Nazi:
A member of the far-right ideology promoted by Hitler and his government before and during World War 2. The ideas promote a hatred of other human ‘races’ and calls for the murder of many seen as inferior. Since the end of the war, people who follow their ideas are called Neo-Nazis.
Democracy:
A system of government elected by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. It promotes individual rights such as freedom of speech.
Dictatorship:
A country ruled by a dictator who has total power over the people in it.
Suffrage:
The right to vote.
Prejudice:
A dislike, hostility, or unjust behaviour deriving from preconceived and unfounded opinions towards a group of people.
Annexing:
Taking over an area or country, often by force.
Appeasement:
The action or process of appeasing – trying to make someone calmer or more reasonable.
Genocide:
The systematic murder of a targeted group of people by a group or a government.
Holocaust:
The systematic murder of Jewish people by the Nazis during World War 2 where 6 million lost their lives. Often called the Shoah (‘catastrophe’ in Hebrew).
Decolonisation:
The process of freeing a people or country from an Empire and its cultural or social influence.
Legacy:
The long-term impact of an event or thing.
Civil Rights:
The rights of people in a country to political and social freedom and equality.
Colour bar:
A social system in which black and other non-white people are denied access to the same rights, opportunities, and facilities as white people.
Migration:
A movement of people from one place to another for various reasons (political, economic, social…).
Medicine Through Time
Amputation:
The removal of a limb by surgery.
Anaesthetic:
A drug or drugs given to produce unconsciousness before and during surgery.
Anatomy:
The science of understanding the structure and make-up of the body.
Antibiotics:
A group of drugs used to treat infections caused by bacteria, e.g. penicillin.
Antisepsis:
The prevention of infection by stopping the growth of bacteria by the use of antiseptics.
Antiseptics:
Chemicals used to destroy bacteria and prevent infection.
Apothecary:
A pharmacist or chemist.
Arteries:
Blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart.
Arthritis:
The painful swelling of joints.
Astrology:
The study of the planets and how they might influence the lives of people.
Bacterium (pl. Bacteria):
see Germ.
Bezoar stone:
A ball of indigestible material found in goats’ stomachs.
Biochemist:
A scientist who studies the make-up of living things.
Black Death:
A phrase used in the Middle Ages to describe bubonic plague. (The ‘blackness’ was caused by bleeding under the skin. Over 50 per cent of all cases were fatal.)
Bleed/Bleeding:
The treatment of opening a vein or applying leeches to draw blood from the patient. Also means the loss of blood caused by damage to the blood vessels.
Buboes:
Black swellings in armpits and groin that were symptoms of the Black Death.
Cauterise:
Using a hot iron to burn body tissue. This seals a wound and stops bleeding.
Cesspool/Cesspit:
A place for collecting and storing sewage.
Charlatans:
People pretending to have a skill or knowledge that they don’t really have.
Chemotherapy:
Treatment of a disease such as cancer by the use of chemicals.
Chilblains:
Painful swellings on feet and hands caused by exposure to cold and wet.
Chloroform:
A liquid whose vapour acts as an anaesthetic and produces unconsciousness.
Chromosomes:
Thread-like structures in the cells of the body that contain genetic information.
Consumption/Consumptive fever:
Tuberculosis which was observed as the wasting away of the body.
Contagion:
The passing of disease from one person to another.
Contaminated/Contamination:
Something that is infected.
Court:
An enclosed area of housing, often with little daylight and heavily over-populated.
Culture/Culturing:
The growth of micro-organisms in the laboratory.
Diarrhoea:
A symptom of a disease; frequent, fluid bowel movements.
Dissection:
The cutting up and examination of a body.
DNA:
Deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule that genes are made of. See Gene.
Dysentery:
A severe infection causing frequent, fluid bowel movements.
Endoscope:
An instrument used to view inside the body.
Faeces:
Waste material from the stomach and digestive system.
Gangrene (Gas gangrene):
The infection of dead tissue causing, in the case of gas gangrene, foul smelling gas.
Gene:
Part of a cell that determines how our bodies look and work. Genes are passed from parents to children.
Genetic engineering:
The investigation of genes and how they can be used to change how the body works.
Germ:
A micro-organism that causes disease.
Germ theory:
The theory that germs cause disease, often by infection through the air.
Health Authority:
The people controlling NHS health care in the regions.
Herbal remedy:
A medicine made up from a mixture of plants, often containing beneficial ingredients.
High-tech surgery:
Surgery using the most modern techniques, including computers, new skills and new drugs.
Hippocratic Oath:
The principles by which doctors work, for the best health of the patient and to do no harm, named after Hippocrates who wrote it.
Humours:
The Ancient Greeks believed the body contained four humours of liquid – blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.
Immune:
Protected against a disease.
Immunise:
The process of giving protection from disease through the body’s own immune system.
Immunity:
Protection against disease through the body’s own defences or immune system.
Incision:
A cut made with a knife during surgery.
Infection:
The formation of disease-causing germs or micro-organisms.
Infirmary:
A place where the sick are treated, a hospital.
Inoculation:
Putting a low dose of a disease into the body to help it fight against a more serious attack of the disease.
Laissez-faire:
Belief that governments should not interfere in people’s lives. It prevented public health schemes getting underway in the nineteenth century.
Leeches:
Blood-sucking worms used to drain blood from a wound.
Leper:
Someone suffering from leprosy, an infection that causes damage to the nerves and skin.
Ligament:
Tough elastic tissue that holds joints of the body together.
Lunatic:
An old-fashioned word for someone who is insane.
Malady:
An illness that is not serious.
Maternity:
Concerning motherhood and looking after children.
Medical officer:
A person appointed to look after the public health of an area.
Melancholy:
Part of the Theory of Four Humours, brought on by excess of gloominess.
Miasma:
Smells from decomposing material that were believed to cause disease.
Microbe:
Another name for a micro-organism.
Micro-organism:
A tiny single-celled living organism too small to be seen by the naked eye. Disease-causing micro-organisms are called bacteria.
Patent remedy:
A medicine usually sold for a profit. In the nineteenth century patent medicines were often made from a mix of ingredients that had no medical benefits. They were also known as ‘cure-alls’.
Penicillin:
The first antibiotic drug produced from the mould penicillium to treat infections.
Physician:
A doctor of medicine who trained at university.
Physiology:
The study of how the body works.
Plague:
A serious infectious disease spread to humans by fleas from rats and mice.
Pneumonia:
The inflammation of the lungs due to an infection.
Prognosis:
Medical judgement about the probable course and result of a disease.
Public health:
Refers to the well-being of the whole community.
Pus:
A pale yellow or green fluid found where there is an infection in the body.
Putrid:
Decomposing.
Quack:
A person who falsely claims to have medical ability or qualifications.
Radiotherapy:
Treatment of a disease such as cancer by the use of radium.
Radium:
A metallic chemical element discovered by Marie Curie in 1898 (see radiotherapy).
Remedy:
A drug or treatment that cures or controls the symptoms of a disease.
Rickets:
A disease caused by a poor diet resulting in a misshapen skeleton.
Sanatorium:
A place where people who are chronically (very) ill can be cared for.
Sinew:
A tendon or fibrous cord that joins a muscle to a bone.
Spontaneous generation:
The theory that decaying matter turns into germs.
Sterilise:
To destroy all living micro-organisms from surfaces and surgical instruments, e.g. on a scalpel before an operation.
Sulphonamide:
An antibacterial drug used to treat bronchitis and pneumonia.
Superbugs:
Bacteria that have developed immunity to treatment by antibiotics or methods of destroying them by cleaning.
Supernatural:
Something that cannot be given an ordinary explanation.
Superstition:
An unreasonable belief based on ignorance and sometimes fear.
Suppuration:
The formation and/or discharge of pus.
Suture:
The closing of a cut or wound by the use of stitches (sutures).
Syphilis:
A sexually-transmitted disease that was common from the late fifteenth century until the introduction of penicillin.
Therapy:
The treatment of either a physical or mental disease.
Transfusion:
The use of blood given by one person to another when a patient has suffered severe blood loss.
Tumour:
A swelling caused by cells reproducing at an increased rate/an abnormal growth of cells that may or may not be cancerous.
Ulcer:
An open sore on the skin.
Unpasteurised:
Food or drink that has not been pasteurised. Pasteurisation is a process of heating that destroys harmful bacterial.
Uroscopy:
Diagnosing illness by examining the patient’s urine.
Vaccination:
The injection into the body of killed or weakened organisms to give the body resistance against disease.
Virus:
A tiny micro-organism, smaller than bacteria, responsible for infections such as colds, flu, polio and chicken pox.
Wise woman:
A person believed to be skilled in magic or local customs.
Witch/Witchcraft:
A person who practises magic and is believed to have dealings with evil spirits.
Worms:
An infestation where worms live as parasites in the human body.
