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.
505–540 of 797 terms
Plantagenet
the royal family whose rival Lancastrian and Yorkist branches contested England’s crown.
plebeians
the wider body of common Roman citizens who fought for legal protection and political rights during the Republic.
pogrom
an organised or tolerated outbreak of violence against a minority community, historically often against Jews.
Poitiers
the 1356 English victory where Edward the Black Prince captured King John II of France.
Polis
an ancient Greek city-state, combining a city, its citizens, and surrounding territory.
Poor People's Campaign
a campaign planned to unite people across racial lines against poverty.
Population Registration Act
the 1950 apartheid law requiring South Africans to be officially classified by race.
populist
politics that claims to speak for ordinary people against established elites.
Powhatan
Indigenous peoples and political communities of Tidewater Virginia encountered by English settlers at Jamestown.
prefects
centrally appointed officials who administered French departments on behalf of the state.
prefectures
administrative units governed under the central state rather than hereditary domain lords.
Prince-elector
one of the leading rulers entitled to take part in choosing the King of the Romans.
Principate
the early Roman imperial system in which emperors held real power while preserving many republican forms.
printing press
movable-type printing technology that accelerated the spread of books, ideas, and controversy.
privateering
state-authorized raiding against enemy shipping by privately owned vessels.
Proclamation
a public announcement of a belief, message or claim.
Propaganda
messages designed to shape what people believe about power, enemies, rulers, or events.
Prophetic
connected with inspired warning, teaching or expectation about divine action.
proportional representation
an electoral system where seats broadly match parties’ share of the vote.
protectorate
a state formally left in existence but placed under another power's control or protection.
Protestantism
branches of Christianity that emerged from the Reformation and rejected papal authority.
province
a territory outside Italy governed under Roman authority.
Provinces
regional administrative districts governed away from the royal center.
Provisional Government
the temporary government that ruled Russia between the February and October Revolutions of 1917.
Proxy war
a conflict where major powers support opposing sides without fighting each other directly.
Prussian
from Prussia, the powerful German kingdom whose army fought revolutionary France.
Ptolemies
the Macedonian-Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt from Ptolemy I Soter to Cleopatra VII.
public accommodations
businesses serving the public, such as hotels and restaurants.
Punic
a term connected with Carthage's Phoenician-derived language, culture, and western Mediterranean world.
Qin
the short-lived dynasty that first unified China under an emperor before collapsing into rebellion.
Qing
the Manchu-led dynasty that ruled China from 1644 to 1912.
quotas
required production or delivery targets set by the state or planning system.
Qur'an
the sacred scripture of Islam.
Quraysh
the leading tribe of Mecca and Muhammad's tribe.
racial segregation
the enforced separation of people by race.
radar
technology using radio waves to detect aircraft, ships, or other objects at distance.
