Key terms & definitions

A communal toilet, often connected to a pit that collected human waste.

The king’s private rooms and the group of attendants serving him there. Their close personal access could give them political influence.

A body of advisers appointed to assist the monarch with government.

Action taken before a problem occurs to prevent it or reduce its possible effects.

A preliminary presentation before the dramatic performances at which playwrights introduced their plays and appeared with their performers without theatrical masks or costumes.

The celebrations and preliminary rites held on the day before an Athenian wedding.

The likelihood that an outcome will occur, expressed as a fraction, decimal or percentage.

The chance that a particular outcome will occur.

The likelihood of an outcome, expressed as a fraction, decimal or percentage.

A number from 0 to 1 that measures how likely an event is to occur.

A number from 0 to 1 describing how likely an event or characteristic is, where 0 means impossible and 1 means certain.

A set of probabilities showing how likely each possible outcome is.

A list of every possible value or outcome and its probability. The probabilities add up to 1.

A process with an uncertain result, such as rolling a die or tossing a coin.

A sampling approach in which each member of the sampling frame has a known chance of selection.

A branching representation that shows the possible outcomes of successive events and the probability on each branch.

Supervision of an offender in the community, involving conditions and support from a probation officer.

The part of the criminal justice system responsible for supervising offenders returning to the community after prison.

The challenge of explaining why evil and suffering exist if God is all-powerful and all-loving.

The challenge of explaining how evil and suffering can exist if God is all-powerful and perfectly loving.

A play whose mixture of comic resolution and disturbing moral questions makes its tone and ending difficult to classify. Some critics apply this term to The Merchant of Venice.

A name used for opponents of Britain’s war against the Boers; their reasons for opposition varied.

Fairness in the way a decision is reached, including giving people an opportunity to present their case.

Long-term memory for how to perform learned skills, often without consciously recalling each step.

An agreed sequence of steps for selecting, measuring and recording data.

A clear, ordered set of instructions for carrying out an investigation.

A numbered, repeatable sequence of practical instructions stating what must be done, measured and recorded.

A step-by-step method specifying how an investigation or practical task will be carried out.

A subroutine that performs a task without returning a value.

A program loaded into main memory so that it can be executed.