Key terms & definitions

An automatic response that occurs without conscious control.

A psychological state in which someone acts independently and accepts personal responsibility for their actions.

Self-government within a larger state, rather than complete independence.

The ability to make and act on one’s own choices, rather than simply being controlled by others.

Giving employees freedom and authority to make decisions about their work within agreed limits.

Freedom to make decisions about one's own life and body.

An examination of a dead body to investigate the cause of death.

An organism that makes its own food from simple substances rather than obtaining food by eating other organisms.

Troops recruited outside the Roman citizen legions, providing infantry, cavalry and other military support.

A person who supports military operations, for example through medical care or administrative work, rather than serving primarily as a combat soldier.

A soldier serving in the Roman army’s supporting regiments, which supplied infantry and cavalry and initially recruited mainly non-citizen inhabitants of the empire.

A group of plant hormones that affect growth; auxins can be used in rooting powders, tissue culture and selective weedkillers.

A group of plant hormones that can stimulate growth and are used in rooting powders and some selective weedkillers.

The ability of a supplier to provide the goods and quantities a business needs.

Whether a material or component can be obtained in the required form, size and quantity when needed.

The bodhisattva associated with compassion, whose mantra is ‘Om mani padme hum’.

Extreme greed for wealth or possessions.

A divine incarnation: a deity appearing on earth, such as Vishnu appearing as Rama.

A character through which a player acts or represents themselves in a game.

A divine descent or incarnation: a deity taking living form in the world, often to restore dharma. Also called an avatar.

Jewish mourning, including periods and practices through which bereaved people express grief and gradually return to ordinary life.

A measure that summarises the central or typical value of a dataset.

The total change in velocity divided by the time over which that change occurs.

The total change in velocity divided by the time taken: $a = \frac{\Delta v}{t}$.

The total profit generated by an investment over its life divided by the number of years it lasts.

The mass of a whole object divided by its total volume, including any hollow or air-filled parts.

Fixed costs spread across each unit of output, calculated by dividing total fixed costs by quantity produced.

A summary measure of the money people or households receive. Comparisons must use the same measure, such as mean or median income, over the same period.

The total kinetic energy of a group of molecules divided by the number of molecules.

A rate calculated over a time interval rather than at one particular instant.