Common Words used in S.2 History Subject The Renaissance global glob/al relating to the whole world economic ec/o/nom/ic relating to trade, industry and money belief be/lief the feeling of being certain that something exists or is true movable type printing press mov/a/ble type print/ing press a printing system that uses movable components to reproduce a document. It s invention helped expand exchanges in learning. Crusaders Cru/sad/ers Christians who fought a series of religious wars against the Muslims in the 11 th 13 th centuries sculpture sculp/ture object made out of stone, wood, clay etc by an artist Italy It/a/ly a peninsula in Southern Europe surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. It was the birthplace of the Renaissance. think independently think in/de/pend/ent/ly think by oneself without being controlled by someone else unreasoned thoughts un/rea/soned thoughts ideas or opinions that are not based on facts or good reasons
rebirth re/birth becoming strong and / or popular again decline de/cline a decrease in quality, strength, or importance of something influence in/flu/ence the power to affect people or things without using direct order doubt doubt think that something may not be true or that it is unlikely development de/vel/op/ment the process of becoming bigger, better, or more advanced traditional ideas tra/di/tion/al i/deas ideas or methods that have existed for a long time feudalism feu/dal/ism a system which existed in the Middle Ages, in which people received land and protection from a lord when they worked and fought for him. political po/lit/i/cal relating to the government, public affairs of a country serf serf someone in the past who lived and worked on land that they did not own and who had to obey the owner of the land architecture ar/chi/tec/ture the art and science of designing and making buildings
Florence Flor/ence A city in western central Italy. It is famous for its history and its importance in the Renaissance, especially for its art and architecture. spread of learning spread of learn/ing knowledge moves to cover a larger area and affect a larger number of people cultural cul/tur/al relating to the habits, traditions and beliefs of a society discovery dis/cov/er/y the process of finding something for the first time humanism hu/man/ism the belief that human problems can be solved without following a god or religion enlightenment en/light/en/ment a period in the 17 th 18 th centuries when many people believed that science and knowledge, not religion, could improve people s lives native language na/tive lan/guage the first language that someone learns
The Age of Revolution overthrow o/ver/throw to remove a leader or government from power by force inequality in/e/qual/i/ty an unfair situation, in which some groups in society enjoy more wealth, power etc than others freedom of speech free/dom of speech the freedom to speak freely without interference from the government, media or other controlling bodies cause cause the reason why something happens suppress human rights sup/press hu/man rights to stop people from exercising their human rights, especially by force disputes dis/pute serious arguments or disagreements absolute monarch Federal Government separation of powers ab/so/lute mon/arch Fe/der/al Gov/ern/ment sep/a/ra/tion of pow/ers a king or queen that rules his / her country with absolute power that is not limited by a constitution or by the law the central government of a country which consists of a group of regions (states). It usually controls national affairs such as defence, foreign trade, diplomacy and finance. the division of the state into branches (normally executive, legislature, judiciary) each with separate areas of responsibility so that no one branch has more power than the others
Parliament Par/lia/ment the group of people who are elected to make a country s law and discuss important national matters executive ex/ec/u/tive the part of a government that is responsible for daily administration and for making sure decisions and laws are put into action success suc/cess the achieving of the results wanted or hoped for discontent dis/con/tent a feeling of being unhappy and not satisfied with the situation one is in nation state na/tion state a country formed by one people sharing the same race, cultural heritage, language and so on colonist col/o/nist someone who settles or lives in a colony Age of Reason Age of Rea/son the period of 17 th 18 th centuries during which many educated people started to think with reason and search for truth Declaration of the Rights of Man Dec/la/ra/tion of the Rights of Man a fundamental document of the French Revolution, that declares all people are free and equal and have freedom of speech, the press, religion and so on legislature leg/is/la/ture the part of people in a country who have the power to make and change laws President Pres/i/dent the official leader of a country that does not have a king or queen
judiciary ju/di/ci/ary the part of a country s government which interprets and applies the law in the name of the country and which consists of all the judges in the country s courts of law. influence in/flu/ence the power to affect people or things without using direct order constitution con/sti/tu/tion a set of basic laws and principles by which a country or organization is governed, especially in relation to the rights of the people it governs liberty lib/er/ty the freedom and right to do whatever one wants without asking permission protest pro/test to come together to publicly express opposition to something