Glossary

A

• Abbasids dynasty that ruled in Bagdad from 750–1258

• abdicate to give up or step down from power

• abolition movement the campaign against slavery and the slave trade

• absentee landlord one who owns a large estate but does not live there

• absolute monarch ruler with complete authority over the government and lives of the people he or she governs

• abstract style of art composed of lines, colors, and shapes, sometimes with no recognizable subject matter at all

• acculturation the blending of two or more cultures

• acid rain a form of pollution in which toxic chemicals in the air come back to Earth in the form of rain, snow, or hail

• acropolis highest and most fortified point within a Greek city-state

• acupuncture medical treatment, originated in ancient China, in which needles are inserted into the skin at specific points to relieve pain or treat various illnesses

• adobe a mixture of clay and plant fibers that becomes hard as it dries in the sun and that can be used for building

• Adulis strategic trading port of the kingdom of Axum

• Afghanistan an Islamic country in Central Asia; invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979; later home to the radical Islamist Taliban and the terrorist al Qaeda

• African National Congress the main organization that opposed apartheid and pushed for majority rule in South Africa; later a political party

• agribusinesses giant commercial farms, often owned by multinational corporations

• ahimsa Hindu belief in nonviolence and reverence for all life

• aircraft carriers ships that accommodate the taking off and landing of airplanes, and transport aircraft

• al Qaeda a fundamentalist Islamic terrorist organization led by Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden

• Alexandria an ancient Hellenistic city in Egypt

• alliance formal agreement between two or more nations or powers to cooperate and come to one another's defense

• alphabet writing system in which each symbol represents a single basic sound

• Alsace and Lorraine provinces on the border of Germany and France, lost by France to Germany in 1871; regained by France after WWI

• Amritsar massacre an incident in 1919 in which British troops fired on an unarmed crowd of Indians

• anarchist someone who wants to abolish all government

• ancien régime old order; system of government in prerevolution France

• anesthetic drug that prevents pain during surgery

• animism the belief that spirits and forces live within animals, objects, or dreams

• annex add a territory to an existing state or country

• Anschluss union of Austria and Germany

• anthropology the study of the origins and development of people and their societies

• anti-ballistic missiles missiles that can shoot down other missiles

• anti-Semitism prejudice against Jews

• apartheid a policy of rigid segregation of nonwhite people in the Republic of South Africa

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