A guide to the language of history
History glossary
Understand the people, places and ideas behind the stories. Find a term, read its meaning, then explore it in context.
397–432 of 797 terms
Merkits
a Mongolic steppe confederation defeated by Temujin during his rise to power.
Merovingian
the Frankish royal dynasty that ruled before the Carolingians replaced it in the eighth century.
Mesoamerican
relating to the cultural region of central and southern Mexico and parts of Central America before and after European contact.
Mesopotamia
an ancient region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where some of the first cities, writing systems, and empires developed.
Messiah
an anointed deliverer expected in Jewish tradition and identified by Christians with Jesus.
Mexican-American War
the 1846-1848 war in which the United States defeated Mexico and gained vast western territories.
Middle Kingdom
a restored phase of Egyptian unity after the First Intermediate Period.
militant Islamist
a person or movement using or endorsing violence in pursuit of an extremist political interpretation of Islam.
militarism
the elevation of military power, readiness, and values within politics and society.
Ming Great Wall
the later, better-known wall system built and rebuilt under the Ming dynasty, distinct from earlier Qin frontier walls.
missionary
a person sent to spread a religion and establish new religious communities.
Missouri Compromise
the 1820 agreement admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state while limiting slavery in parts of the Louisiana Purchase.
Monarchy
a political system headed by a king, queen, emperor, or similar hereditary ruler.
monastery
a religious community organized around prayer, work, learning, and discipline.
monasticism
religious life organised around vows, community, discipline, prayer, and work.
Mongol Empire
the vast empire created by Genghis Khan and his successors across Eurasia.
Mongols
steppe peoples whose thirteenth-century conquests created the largest contiguous land empire in history.
Monolithic Ideological System
North Korea's doctrine of absolute loyalty to Kim Il Sung and ideological uniformity across society.
monopoly
exclusive control over a resource, institution, or form of power.
Monotheism
belief in one God.
Monsoon
seasonal wind and rainfall patterns that strongly affect South Asian farming and settlement.
most-favoured-nation treatment
a treaty principle allowing one foreign power to claim privileges granted to another.
mujahideen
Islamic guerrilla fighters, especially the Afghan resistance groups that fought Soviet forces in the 1980s.
Multipolar world
an international system with several major centers of power rather than one or two superpowers.
mummification
the process of preserving a body after death, especially for burial and afterlife beliefs in ancient Egypt.
Muslim
a follower of Islam; in history, the word can describe people, communities, rulers, or societies shaped by Islamic belief and culture.
Mutiny
organized refusal by soldiers or sailors to obey military authority.
Mutually assured destruction
the Cold War logic that neither nuclear superpower should attack first because both could still destroy the other in retaliation.
Naimans
a major steppe confederation defeated by Temujin shortly before he became Genghis Khan.
Nanda dynasty
the Magadhan dynasty overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya.
National Assembly
the revolutionary assembly declared by the Third Estate in June 1789 as the voice of the French nation.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
a civil rights organisation that campaigns for racial equality.
National Guard
a military force that can serve under state or national authority.
National Liberation Front
the southern Vietnamese insurgent front formed in 1960 against South Vietnam's government.
National Party
the South African party that won power in 1948 and made apartheid official policy.
National Socialist German Workers' Party
the Nazi Party's formal name after the German Workers' Party was renamed in 1920.
