Key terms & definitions

A lack of interest or concern that reduces someone's motivation to take part in public or political life.

The vertex of a cone or pyramid opposite its base.

A carnivore that has no predators.

Impairment of language abilities following brain damage, which may affect speaking, understanding, reading or writing.

A short, memorable statement expressing a general insight or principle.

A sacred Egyptian bull associated with the god Ptah, worshipped during its lifetime and given an elaborate burial after death.

An equestrian contest in which an armed competitor dismounted from a moving chariot, ran alongside it and remounted, while a separate driver controlled the horses.

A vision of overwhelming destruction or the end of the world, often associated with divine judgement.

Relating to the end of the world or a final divine judgement.

Language or imagery concerning the end of the world, often involving divine judgement and destruction.

A name commonly used by Protestants for writings included in Catholic or Orthodox Old Testaments but outside the Protestant canon. Some Protestants value them for instruction without accepting them as authoritative Scripture.

A changing room in a Roman bath building.

A reasoned explanation and defence of religious belief, rather than an expression of regret.

The abandonment or rejection of a religious faith. Aurangzeb used an accusation of abandoning Islam against Dara before his execution.

Leaving or rejecting a religious faith.

Someone sent out with a mission. Jesus sent the Twelve to preach and heal.

Rooted in the apostles and continuing their teaching and mission.

The handing on of the apostles’ authority through an unbroken succession of bishops. Catholics understand the Pope as the successor of St Peter.

Addressing someone absent, something non-human or an abstract idea as though it could hear and respond.

A practitioner who prepared and sold medicines, especially herbal remedies.

A person who prepares and sells medicines; Romeo buys poison from one in Mantua.

The transformation of a mortal into a god; also called deification.

The equipment used to make observations, manipulate variables or take measurements in an investigation.

Equipment used to carry out an experiment or make a measurement.

The change in the mass measured for part of a reacting system when matter crosses its boundary, even though the total mass of all reactants and products is conserved.

The weight indicated when an object is supported while immersed in a fluid; it is reduced by the fluid’s upthrust.

A supernatural figure or vision that appears before someone. In Act 4, the apparitions deliver warnings and predictions to Macbeth.

A reported appearance of a religious figure, such as the Virgin Mary.

A procedure through which an accused person challenges a judicial decision.

A request for a higher court to review a lower court’s decision.