100 Terms Every Historian Should Know

No.	Term	Definition
1.	Abolitionism	Movement to end slavery.
2.	Agency	Capacity to act and influence events.
3.	Agrarianism	Priority on farming-based society.
4.	Allegory	Symbolic narrative with deeper meaning.
5.	Alliance	Formal agreement between states or groups.
6.	Anachronism	Out-of-time element in a context.
7.	Ancestry	Line of descent from forebears.
8.	Annals	Year-by-year historical record.
9.	Antiquarianism	Study of artifacts and old customs.
10.	Apologia	Formal defense of beliefs or actions.
11.	Archaeology	Study of past through material remains.
12.	Archive	Repository of historical records.
13.	Aristocracy	Rule by hereditary elite.
14.	Armistice	Agreement to stop fighting temporarily.
15.	Assimilation	Adoption of dominant culture by minorities.
16.	Asylum	Protection granted to political refugees.
17.	Autarky	Economic self-sufficiency policy.
18.	Autobiography	Life story written by oneself.
19.	Autocracy	Rule by a single unchecked leader.
20.	Balance of power	Stability via countervailing state strength.
21.	Balkanization	Fragmentation into smaller hostile units.
22.	Bastion	Stronghold of power or defense.
23.	Bicameralism	Legislature with two chambers.
24.	Bill of Rights	Guaranteed legal and civil liberties.
25.	Biography	Life story written by another.
26.	Black Death	Fourteenth-century pandemic plague in Eurasia.
27.	Blockade	Cutting off enemy supplies or access.
28.	Bourgeoisie	Middle class owning capital.
29.	Bureaucracy	Administrative system of officials and rules.
30.	Caliphate	Islamic polity led by a caliph.
31.	Capitalism	Private ownership and market exchange system.
32.	Causation	Explanation of why events occurred.
33.	Census	Official population count and data.
34.	Centralization	Concentration of authority in a center.
35.	Charter	Document granting rights or authority.
36.	Chronicler	Writer compiling historical events.
37.	Chronology	Arrangement of events by time.
38.	Civil society	Nonstate associations shaping public life.
39.	Civil war	Internal war within a state.
40.	Clause	Distinct provision in a legal text.
41.	Cold War	US–Soviet global rivalry without direct war.
42.	Collective memory	Shared public recollection of the past.
43.	Colonialism	Control of territories by foreign powers.
44.	Commodification	Turning goods, labor, or ideas into commodities.
45.	Common law	Judge-made law based on precedent.
46.	Communism	Classless society via collective ownership ideal.
47.	Comparative history	Cross-society analysis of similarities and differences.
48.	Concordat	Agreement between state and church.
49.	Conscription	Compulsory military service.
50.	Constitution	Foundational framework of governance and rights.
51.	Continuity	Persistence of structures over time.
52.	Counterfactual	What-if scenario to test explanations.
53.	Coup d’etat	Sudden illegal seizure of power.
54.	Credibility	Trustworthiness of a source or claim.
55.	Crusades	Medieval religious wars from Latin Christendom.
56.	Cultural diffusion	Spread of cultural traits across groups.
57.	Cultural history	Study of meanings, symbols, and practices.
58.	Decolonization	End of imperial rule and independence.
59.	Decree	Official order with legal force.
60.	Demography	Statistical study of populations.
61.	Dependency theory	Development shaped by unequal global relations.
62.	Despotism	Tyrannical rule with absolute power.
63.	Detente	Easing of international tensions.
64.	Dialectic	Change through conflict of opposing forces.
65.	Diaspora	Dispersed population maintaining homeland ties.
66.	Diplomacy	Managing relations between states.
67.	Divine right	Monarch’s authority claimed from God.
68.	Domesday Book	1086 English survey of landholding.
69.	Dynasty	Ruling family line over generations.
70.	Edict	Public proclamation by authority.
71.	Empire	Multiethnic state ruling vast territories.
72.	Enclosure	Privatization of common lands in Britain.
73.	Enlightenment	Eighteenth-century emphasis on reason and rights.
74.	Entente	Informal diplomatic understanding between states.
75.	Epidemic	Rapid disease spread in a community.
76.	Ethnogenesis	Formation of a new ethnic identity.
77.	Ethnohistory	History using cultural and oral evidence.
78.	Exile	Forced or voluntary banishment from homeland.
79.	Fascism	Ultranationalist authoritarian mass politics.
80.	Feudalism	Land-for-service hierarchy in medieval Europe.
81.	Fiscal-military state	State built around taxation and war.
82.	Footnote	Citation note supporting a statement.
83.	Foreword	Introductory text by someone other than author.
84.	Forgery	Faked document presented as authentic.
85.	Frontier	Border zone of expansion or contact.
86.	Gender history	Study of gender roles and power.
87.	Genealogy	Study of family lineage.
88.	Genocide	Intentional destruction of a people.
89.	Geopolitics	Power shaped by geography and resources.
90.	Glorious Revolution	1688 English regime change and settlement.
91.	Great Depression	Global economic collapse from 1929.
92.	Hagiography	Idealized biography of a saint.
93.	Hegemony	Dominance through consent and power.
94.	Heritage	Valued legacy from the past.
95.	Hermeneutics	Theory of interpreting texts and meanings.
96.	Historiography	Study of how history is written.
97.	Holocaust	Nazi genocide of Jews and others.
98.	Humanism	Renaissance focus on classical learning and dignity.
99.	Ideology	System of political or social ideas.
100.	Imperialism	Expansion of power through domination abroad.