Key terms & definitions

A soldier hired to fight for payment.

Motivated chiefly by financial gain rather than affection or principle.

Treatment of cotton with concentrated sodium hydroxide under tension to improve lustre, strength and dye uptake.

A person who bought and sold goods, sometimes trading between towns or overseas.

A trader who buys and sells goods. Antonio’s wealth depends on goods transported by sea.

Trading ships and their crews that transport goods and passengers, rather than warships belonging to a navy.

The ships and crews engaged in commercial trade rather than naval warfare; during wartime they also transport essential supplies.

Ships used to transport goods for trade rather than for naval warfare.

Showing compassion and being willing to forgive wrongdoing.

Compassion shown towards someone whom one has the power to punish.

Compassion shown towards someone, particularly when they could be punished for wrongdoing.

A lake; at Kenilworth, a large artificial lake that formed part of the castle’s defences.

A woman who earns money by providing sexual services; the Latin term for a prostitute.

Combining two sorted lists into one sorted list by repeatedly selecting the next value in the required order.

An agreement between businesses to combine into one business.

The joining of two or more companies to form one company.

A sorting algorithm that repeatedly splits a list into smaller sublists, then merges sorted sublists into one sorted list.

Combining several existing categories into a broader category, so their separate identities are no longer shown in the summary.

Plant tissue containing stem cells that can divide and differentiate into any type of plant cell throughout the plant's life.

Plant tissue containing undifferentiated cells, found in growing regions such as root and shoot tips. Its cells retain the ability to differentiate throughout the plant’s life.

Tissue at the growing tips of shoots and roots containing cells that divide and can develop into specialised plant cells.

Tissue at the growing tips of shoots and roots containing unspecialised cells that divide and can differentiate into different types of plant cell.

The beneficial spiritual effects of good actions. In some Buddhist funeral practices, these are shared with or dedicated to the deceased.

A system in which people gain positions and rewards through ability and achievement rather than inherited advantage.

Dedicating the benefit of wholesome actions to another being, including someone who has died.

An early-1960s Liverpool music scene combining influences from skiffle, rock ’n’ roll and rhythm and blues, associated particularly with the Beatles.

The openings between the strands of a fishing net, whose dimensions affect which organisms are retained or can escape.

A network arrangement with connections between multiple devices, providing alternative routes for data.

A body type characterised by a muscular physique, broad shoulders and narrow hips or waist.

The media product communicated by a sender to a receiver; the term can also refer to the ideas it conveys.