GLOSSARY MAIN PAGE
The glossary page is ever evolving. As we get to new topics and units, I will add new words to this list. You can also look for words by unit, topic, and lesson by clicking on the links in the right column. Glossaries past Topic 1 have not been completed so the link isn't activated. You will know when the link is activated when units, topics, and lesson numbers are in dark blue. If they are in gray, they have not been activated yet.
Words Listed Alphabetically
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A
alloy: metal made by combining two or more metallic elements; usually to give greater strength or to keep it from rusting altruistic: unselfishly concerned for or devoted to the welfare of others anti-monopoly: Any law or policy intended to oppose monopolies and other anti-competitive organizations or practices apprentice: A person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer, having agreed to work for a certain set time period at low wages. architect: a person who designs buildings and advises in their construction architecture: the art or science of designing and building structures artisans: a person who is highly skilled at something astride: one leg on each side auctioned: somethings sold at a sale to those who offer to pay the most awry: wrong or twisted B beacon: a signal fire commonly on a hill, tower, or pole; a guiding or warning signal; or something that inspires bellows: A device with two handles used for blowing air at a fire bends: a illness sometimes experienced with deep sea divers caused by a great and fast decrease in pressure by nitrogen bubbles forming in the blood. A person will have severe pain in the lungs and joints, and sometimes brain damage. Bessemer Process: when oxygen is blown on white, hot molten iron to produce steel bobbin: a reel, cylinder, or spool upon which yarn or thread is wound, as used in spinning and machine sewing brazen: made of brass business charter: establishes the life of a corporation. A charter contains information concerning the corporation's purpose, the structure of its shares of stock, and details about the internal organization C cantilevers: either of two beams or structures that stick out from piers toward each other and when joined form a span in a bridge capital: wealth in the form of money, property, investment, etc... used or available for use in the production of more wealth capitalism: an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by the supply of private owners for profit and the demand of the consumer, rather than by the state. carbon monoxide: colorless, odorless, lethal gas, that easily catches fire; produced when fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and petroleum and carbon materials like wood are not completely burned up and the chemical changing process cannot be completed. carbon: a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6; forms more compounds than any other element; because of its willingness to bond to other nonmetallic elements it is often referred to as the building block of life; the 4th most common element in the Universe, 15th most common element in the Earth’s crust, and 2nd most common element in the human body; it has the highest melting point of all elements, 6332 °F colossal: huge statue Colossus of Rhodes: a 100 foot tall statue of the Greek god, Helios that before an earthquake destroyed it in 224 B.C.E. stood at the entrance to the Greek harbor of Rhodes; one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World command economy: economy organized by the government - the government decides what will be produced and who will do the producing. The state owns production. commodity: any useful thing that people buy or trade communism: a political and economic system in which the major productive resources in a society—such as mines, factories, and farms—are owned by the public or the state, and wealth is divided among citizens equally or according to individual need. competition: a rivalry between sellers where each seller tries to get sales, profit, and market shares by offering the best practicable combination of price, quality, and service. compressed air: air under pressure greater than that of the atmosphere conceived: to form an idea confident: sure of oneself; having no uncertainty about one's own abilities, correctness, successfulness conscience: the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action continuity of existence: a firm can live beyond the life spans and capacity of its owners, because its ownership can be transferred through a sale or gift of shares. corporation: a firm owned by stockholders that has three characteristics: legal existence, limited liability, and continuity of existence corruption: group of people using dishonest and sometimes illegal ways or practices creditors: a person or business to which money is owed crusading: campaigning to get things changed for the better D debasing: to lower in character, quality, or value; degrade decipher: to convert a text written in code, or a coded signal into normal language democracy: a form of government in which the supreme power is in the hands of the people and exercised directly by them or by people they elect to represent them derricks: the framework over an oil well that holds the drilling machinery dictatorship: form of government where a dictator (person who has absolute power), has absolute, unrestricted control in a government without being an heir (such as a prince or princess) to that power dignified: a look or way of behaving that suggests a person is respected, serious and has self-control; being worthy, honorable, or respected; looking or behaving in a serious way distribute: to deal out shares duel: a shoot-out between two people who have an unresolved argument in the presence of witnesses E economics: The way a country manages its money and resources (such as workers and land) to produce, buy, and sell goods and services. economist: a person who studies or specializes in economics efficient: achieving the most possible with little waste, effort or expense element: a substance that cannot be broken down by chemical means and is defined by the number of protons they have engineer: a designer or builder of engines or structures engineering: the science or profession of developing and using nature's power and resources in ways that are useful to people (as in designing and building roads, bridges, dams, or machines and in creating new products) exasperated: angry, annoyed, or irritated exiled: being forced to leave one's country or home F finance: the branch of business that deals with how funds are raised, budgeted, and invested financier: a person who specializes in money and especially in the loaning of money to businesses forge: to make or shape a metal object by heating it in a fire or furnace and beating or hammering it foundries: a place that casts or molds liquid metal frame: the materials and arrangement of those materials that give support to a building free enterprise: an economy where people can freely buy and trade goods and services. The price of each good or service is determined by demand or the measure of how many people want to buy a particular good or service (also known as a market economy or free market economy) freedom: the power to decide one’s actions; freedom refers to an individual’s ability to make decisions for himself or herself (The difference in freedom and liberty is that freedom refers to individuals and liberty refers to a society of people. A good example is: freedom would be my right to take my neighbor’s property. Liberty would be his right to shoot me if I did.) G gangrene: the death of soft tissues in a local area of the body due to loss of the blood supply generations: a group of individuals born and living at the same time golden door policy: the United States welcome policy to anyone who comes to our country and to embrace people of all colors, races, and religions Gutenberg Bible: The edition of the Bible completed by Johannes Gutenberg in about 1455 in Mainz, Germany. It is the first complete book in the West and is also the earliest to be printed from movable type. It is worth a lot of money today. H Helios: the ancient Greek sun god hybrid economy: an economy that is a mixture of two or more different types of economies I icon: a symbol or representation of something idealism: believing in ideals, goals, or standards of excellence idealist: a person who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, goals; see things for what they could be instead of what they actually are. idol: an image used as an object of worship. immensely: impossible to measure; vast, huge, or very great imposing: to take charge or to force one's own wants innovation: a new idea, method, or device integrity: total honesty and sincerity interest: money paid regularly at a particular rate for the use of money lent, or for delaying the repayment of a debt internal combustion engine: an engine in which the fuel is ignited within the engine cylinder instead of in an external furnace international: involving more than one nation or working with many nations outside of your own nation iron: a chemical element and metal with a chemical symbol of Fe and its atomic number is 26; it is the 4th most common element in the Earth’s crust, the 6th most common element in the universe, and makes up about 5% of the Earth’s crust irrespective: without regard to J Jim Crow Laws: state laws that aimed to treat African Americans unfairly justice: the quality of being fair or just or the law K kickback: a return of part of a payment because of secret agreement or bribe L landscape architect: the art and practice of designing the outdoor environment legal existence: when a firm can (like a person) buy, sell, own, enter into a contract, and sue other persons and firms, and be sued by them. It can do good and be rewarded, and can commit offenses and be punished. leisure: freedom from work; relaxation or spending time doing activities you enjoy liberty: the power to act and express oneself according to one’s will; liberty refers to a society’s ability to make decisions for the society (The difference in freedom and liberty is that freedom refers to individuals and liberty refers to a society of people. A good example is: freedom would be my right to take my neighbor’s property. Liberty would be his right to shoot me if I did.) limited liability: a firm and its owners are limited in their liability to the creditors - only up to the resources of the firm, unless the owners give personal-guaranties. lucrative: profitable - after all expenses are paid, money is made M manganese: a chemical element of atomic number 25, a hard gray metal that is an component of special steels and magnetic alloys market economy: an economy where people can freely buy and trade goods and services. The price of each good or service is determined by demand or the measure of how many people want to buy a particular good or service (also known as a free enterprise or free market economy) mentor: a wise and faithful adviser or teacher metaphor: a symbol - something that represents something other than itself methodical: to be in the routine of do something in the same way every time very precisely monarchy: a nation ruled by a king, queen, prince, or princess monopoly: A situation in which a company is made by combining several smaller businesses and owns all or nearly all of the market for a given type of product or service (including the goods and services that are produced, the means in which the product is transported, and the way it is distributed) because there is no competition; usually the business is so large it has an effect on the economy or politics N negative: camera film in which the light and dark parts are approximately opposite to those of the thing or person photographed and the means by which non-digital photographs are made O oppressed: to control or rule in a harsh or cruel way P paradox: a statement that seems to go against common sense but may still be true; a false statement that at first seems true; or a person or thing having qualities that seem to be opposites partnership: A business organization in which two or more individuals manage and operate the business. Both owners are equally and personally liable for the debts from the business. patent: a right granted by a government to an inventor to be the only one to be allowed to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years. patriotic: the characteristic of a person who loves his or her country pauper: a very poor person pedestal: the support or foot of a column or the base of something upright pedestrians: people who are walking philanthropist: a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others, esp. by the generous donation of money to good causes. pogroms: mob attacks on Jews in Russia that killed men, women, and children politics: beliefs on how the government should operate and efforts to make sure that those who share these beliefs are the ones in government power pomp: a show of magnificence - usually a ceremony populists: a political party (1891–1904), also called the People’s Party. They wanted to end government corruption and the influence of the wealthy on government and help the farmer by lowering railroad rates, increasing taxes for businesses and the wealthy and decreasing taxes on land; and they wanted more money printed and circulating in the economy. Power loom: a water or electrical powered machine that weaves fabric pragmatic: practical precedent: a decision made to set an example for similar situations that might occur later; ex: A precedent was set when the teacher sent the boy to the office for stealing. (The teacher showed the class what would happen to anyone who was caught stealing. She set a precedent for stealing in her classroom.) profitable: when a business makes money after all operating expenses have been paid progressivists: person favoring or working for progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are prominence: the state of being well known and respected promontory: a high point of land sticking out into the sea prospector: person who searches for mineral deposits in a place by mining and drilling prosperity: a time of good fortune; doing well, thriving, having money to get what you need and some things you want public relations: the business of creating public goodwill for a person, firm, or institution pueblo: an American Indian village of Arizona or New Mexico consisting of flat-roofed stone or adobe houses joined in groups sometimes several stories high Q R realist: a person who tends to view or represent things as they actually are rebate: a partial refund, discount, deduction, or reduction on something purchased refinery: a building and the equipment for preparing metals, oil, or sugar for people to use reformers: people who work to fix corruption or change things for the better refuse: unaccepted regulation: a rule or law designed to control the conduct of businesses Republic: form of government where the citizens themselves hold power and usually elect officials to represent them rust: when iron and oxygen react in the presence of water or moisture; also called iron oxide S satire: something meant to make fun of and show the weaknesses of human nature or a particular person scandalous: harmful to one's reputation selflessness: the opposite of selfishness; giving without regard for oneself socialism: political and economic system in which most property and resources are owned or controlled by the public or the state but usually has a democracy as its form of government solemn: having a serious appearance or behavior solitaire: a card game played by one person alone sonnet: a poem of 14 lines usually rhyming by a fixed scheme steel: a well known and commonly used alloy made from iron and a small amount of carbon, though the amount of carbon is very small, it makes a huge difference to the strength stock market: a place where stocks (or parts of a company) are bought and sold. The most famous is the Wall Street Stock Exchange in New York. stock market: a place where stocks, or part-ownerships in companies, are bought and sold. The famous New York Stock Exchange is the biggest stock market in this country. stock: a certificate of partial ownership in a company. Stocks are sold by companies to raise money. When a person buys stock in a company, he or she owns a tiny part of that company. When a company is doing well by selling a lot of goods or services and making a lot of money, the value of the company and the price of the company's stock goes up. Then, a stockholder can sell his or stock and make a profit. stockholder: a person who owns stock in a company and shares in profits and losses generated by it. sulfur: A pale-yellow, brittle nonmetallic element that occurs widely in nature, especially in volcanic deposits, minerals, natural gas, and petroleum; used to make gunpowder and fertilizer; has an atomic number 16 suspension bridge: a bridge that has its roadway hanging from two or more cables usually passing over towers and strongly anchored at the ends T tariff: A tax placed on products imported from another nation; tariffs raise money for the governments that impose them, tariffs may also be used to protect a nation's own industries teeming: to become filled telegraph: a system for transmitting messages from a distance along a wire by creating signals by making and breaking an electrical connection tempest-tost: pounded or hit repeatedly by storms or problems or bad luck Texas asphalt: a thick, paste like form of petroleum tolerant: showing sympathy for or acceptance of feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from one's own traditional economy: a system where traditions, customs, and beliefs shape the goods and products the society creates; most of these are rural or farm-based; characterized by bartering and trading and little to no excess production of goods trust: is a legal arrangement that allows many different companies to be owned and run by the same people. trust company: a corporation (such as a bank) organized to act as a trustee trustee: person, organization, or corporation who has been given responsibility for someone else's property tycoons: a businessperson of great wealth and power U union: an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer and protect the rights and advance the interests of its members concerning wages, benefits, and working conditions unscrupulous: without rules or ideals; dishonest V versatile: being capable of many uses W wretched: very miserable or unhappy XYZ yacht: a small usually privately owned ship used for pleasure cruising or racing yearning: to want very badly |
Unit GlossariesGlossary links will be updated as we get to them. If the link is dark blue it is activated. If if is gray, that glossary page is not ready yet.
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