• Stamp Act law passed in 1765 by the British Parliament that imposed taxes on items such as newspapers and pamphlets in the American colonies; repealed in 1766

• standard of living measures the quality and availability of necessities and comforts in a society

• stela in the ancient world, a tall, commemorative monument that was often decorated

• steppe sparse, dry, treeless grassland

• stipend a fixed salary given to public office holders

• stock shares in a company

• strait narrow water passage

• stupa large domelike Buddhist shrine

• subcontinent large landmass that juts out from a continent

• suburbanization the movement to built-up areas outside of central cities

• Sudetenland a region of western Czechoslovakia

• Suez Canal a canal linking the Red Sea and Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, which also links Europe to Asia and East Africa

• suffrage right to vote

• Sufis Muslim mystics who seek communion with God through meditation, fasting, and other rituals

• sultan Muslim ruler

• Sumer site of the world's first civilization, located in southeastern Mesopotamia

• Sunni a member of one of the largest Muslim sects; Sunnis believe that inspiration came from the example of Muhammad as recorded by his early followers

• superpower a nation stronger than other powerful nations

• surplus an amount that is more than needed, excess

• surrealism artistic movement that attempts to portray the workings of the unconscious mind

• sustainability the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations

• sustainable development development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

• Swahili an East African culture that emerged about 1000 A.D.; also a Bantu-based language, blending Arabic words and written in Arabic script

T

• Taiping Rebellion peasant revolt in China

• Taliban Islamic fundamentalist faction that ruled Afghanistan for nearly ten years until ousted by the United States in 2002

• Taj Mahal a tomb built by Shah Jahan for his wife

• Tang dynasty Chinese dynasty from 618 to 907

• tariff tax on imported goods

• technology the skills and tools people use to meet their basic needs

• Tehran capital of the Qajar dynasty and presentday Iran

• temperance movement campaign to limit or ban the use of alcoholic beverages

• tenant farmer someone who would pay rent to a lord to farm part of the lord's land

• tenement multistory building divided into crowded apartments

Table of Contents