Key terms & definitions

A small-scale trial of a survey used to identify problems before the main collection takes place.

A Roman throwing spear used before close combat, which could injure an enemy or become lodged in a shield.

A small bone remaining within a fish fillet after it has been removed from the main skeleton.

A Hindu ritual performed for deceased ancestors, commonly practised at Varanasi.

A small endocrine gland in the brain that produces and releases melatonin.

The use of exchanges between American and Chinese table-tennis players in 1971 to help improve relations between their countries.

Money allowed to a wife for her personal expenses.

A diagram identifying the physical pins of an electronic component and their functions.

A system that uses Latin letters to represent the sounds of Mandarin Chinese, helping learners pronounce words and characters.

An early migrant who moved into an area to establish a farm or settlement.

Deeply religious and devoted to the duties of one’s faith.

A piece of apparatus used to transfer one accurately measured, fixed volume of solution.

A hollow length of material, commonly with a circular cross-section.

The Aztec nobility, who held land and dominated important positions in government, the military, the courts and the priesthood.

A fabric-covered cord or folded fabric insert sewn into an edge or seam to provide decoration, strength and definition.

Forcing a soft mixture through a piping bag, often fitted with a nozzle, to form a controlled shape or pattern.

Attacking and robbing ships at sea without state authorisation.

A radio station broadcasting without authorisation; British offshore stations such as Radio Caroline became important sources of pop music in the 1960s.

Radio broadcasting without the required authorisation or licence.

A sliding component that changes the volume of an enclosed gas when it moves inside a cylinder.

The distance between the centres of adjacent pins or other repeated features.

Large pottery storage jars used for keeping supplies in Mycenaean buildings.

A large jar. In Hesiod’s account, Pandora opens a jar and releases miseries upon humanity.

An endocrine gland at the base of the brain that releases several hormones, some of which stimulate other glands to release hormones.

An endocrine gland at the base of the brain that releases several hormones, including hormones that stimulate other endocrine glands.

Compassion for another person's suffering, leading someone to wish to relieve it.

The point about which an object turns.

A point about which a part turns or swings.

A joint that allows rotation around a single axis, such as the joint between the atlas and axis in the neck.

A single picture element in a bitmap image, with one colour.