A Glossary of Historical Terms in Alphabetical order
| A.D. | Anno Domini – In the year of our lord |
| Absolute Monarchy | When a monarch has total rule over a country or region |
| Anachronism | Something that is placed in the wrong time period |
| Anarchy | When law and order breaks down |
| Anthropology | The study of humans and their behaviour over time |
| Antiquities | Things that have survived from Ancient History |
| Archaeology | The study of the past through excavation of historical sites |
| Archive | A storage of files or documents from the past |
| Artefact | An object that has survived from the past |
| Autobiography | A history of someone’s life written by themselves |
| B.C. | Before Christ – Before the birth of Jesus Christ |
| B.C.E. | Before the Common Era – Before the year 0 |
| Bias | A one-sided view of something |
| Bibliography | A list of works used in the completion of another piece of work |
| Biography | A history of someone’s life written by another person |
| Causation | The cause of an event |
| C.E. | Common Era – After the year 0 |
| Century | A period of 100 years |
| Charter | A legal grant of property or title |
| Chronicle | An account or description of a period of time in chronological order |
| Chronology | The study of a sequence of past events |
| Citation | A method of referencing sources |
| Culture | The values shared by a society |
| Data | A collection of information, facts or statistics |
| Date | An exact period of time |
| Domino Effect | When an event causes another chain of events to happen |
| Economic History | A study of money and economic change |
| Evidence | Things that can help us understand the past |
| Fossil | The preserved remains of a plant or animal from a past geological age |
| Historian | Someone who studies the past |
| Historiography | A study of the methods used by historians |
| History | A study of the past |
| Imperialism | Taking control of other countries or peoples, creating or enlarging an empire |
| Lacuna | A gap in a manuscript or other historical document |
| Local History | The study of the past events of a locality |
| Manuscript | A hand-written document |
| Military History | The history of a period with a focus on war and warfare |
| Millennium | A period of 1,000 years |
| Paleography | The study of ancient handwriting |
| Periodisation | Using periods in History to divide the past |
| Philology | The study of language |
| Political History | The study of political ideologies, events and leaders |
| Prehistory | The period before the development of writing |
| Primary Source | A piece of evidence originating from the time being examined |
| Propaganda | Information that is used to persuade people to believe a certain set of facts or values |
| Provenance | The history of an item or artefact’s location and ownership |
| Reference | A collection of facts and information with no analysis, opinion or conclusions |
| Research | To find evidence |
| Revisionism | A review of historical thinking in the light of new evidence |
| Secondary Source | A piece of evidence created later than the event being examined |
| Social History | The history of the lives of people |
| Statistics | A collection of data that shows information, change and development |
| Suffrage | The legal right to vote in elections |
| Technological History | The development of technology and medicine |
| Tertiary Source | An article or account that uses Primary and Secondary Sources to give an overview of a period |
| Toponymy | The study of place names |
| Unit of Time | A standardised or variable measurement of time |
Citation Information for Glossary of Historical Terms:
Heather Y Wheeler. (2020 – 2024). Glossary of Historical Terms. Available: https://www.historykeyskills.com/glossary-of-historical-terms/. Last accessed August 19th, 2025