Key terms & definitions

Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicles: several warheads carried by one missile that can strike different targets.

The dishonest taking or misuse of money entrusted to someone, especially public funds.

The loss of a pregnancy before the baby is able to survive independently.

A failure of the justice system that results in an unjust conviction or punishment.

A failure by a court to deliver justice, such as finding an innocent person guilty.

Liquids that mix together.

Liquids that mix to form one liquid mixture.

The elements arranged within an image to create meaning, including setting, lighting, costume, props and performance.

The arrangement of what appears within a shot, including setting, props, costume, lighting and the positioning and performance of actors.

A person who hoards money and is reluctant to spend it, even for their own comfort.

A stream that is too small to have formed the much larger valley through which it flows.

The written collection of oral teachings explaining how Jewish commandments should be applied, compiled by Rabbi Judah Ha’Nasi.

A systematic code of Jewish law compiled by Maimonides in the twelfth century.

False or misleading information, whether or not it is shared deliberately.

An explanation for visual illusions in which depth information is interpreted incorrectly, leading to a mistaken judgement of distance, size or length.

Prejudice against women, expressed through hostility, contempt or generalised assumptions about them.

Prejudice against or hostility towards women. A literary portrayal may express misogyny by presenting women collectively as deceitful or harmful.

Prejudice against, contempt for or hostility towards women.

A mistaken understanding or judgement; the Friar uses this word to describe the princes' belief that Hero is guilty.

A misleading or distorted portrayal of a social group, individual or issue.

A value that has not been recorded or is unavailable.

A recorded value or answer that is absent from a data set.

Permission for a defeated gladiator to leave a bout alive; this was not the same as gaining freedom.

A task given to someone to carry out. In Mark 6:7–13, Jesus sends the Twelve to preach repentance, drive out demons and heal.

A person who seeks to spread their religion; British Christian missionaries in Africa also undertook activities such as exploration and campaigning against slavery.

A person who works to spread their religious faith, often in another country.

A person who carries out the Church’s mission by sharing Christian faith and serving others.

An attempt to spread a religion and convert others; in the novel’s opening, the phrase exposes assumptions about the supposed inferiority of those being converted.

A priest sent to sustain or spread religious belief. Catholic missionaries in Elizabethan England supported Catholic worship despite the Protestant settlement.

A short statement expressing a business’s overall purpose or broad aims.