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Literature and Rhetoric
College Prep Vocabulary
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Algebra and Functions
Geometry and Trigonometry
US History
Modern World History
Government and Economics
Literature and Rhetoric, continued
Metonymy Naming a thing by something linked to it, such as the crown for a king. Oxymoron Two opposite words side by side, such as deafening silence. Paradox A statement that seems to contradict itself yet holds a truth. Parallelism Using the same grammatical pattern for ideas of equal weight. Pathos An appeal to the audience's emotions. Pentameter A line of verse with five metrical feet. Premise A statement that an argument takes as its starting point. Rhetoric The art of using language to persuade an audience. Soliloquy A speech in which a character, alone on stage, thinks aloud. Sonnet A poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter. Syllogism A three-step argument: two premises and the conclusion they force. Syntax The order in which words are arranged to build a sentence. Tragedy A serious play in which the main character comes to ruin. Vernacular The everyday speech of a particular place or group.
College Prep Vocabulary 30
Ambiguous Open to more than one meaning. Anomaly Something that departs from what is normal or expected. Benevolent Kind and wishing to do good. Candid Honest and direct, even when the truth is awkward. Concise Saying a lot in few words. Diligent Hard-working and careful. Eloquent Able to speak or write clearly and movingly. Empirical Based on observation or experiment, not on theory alone. Ephemeral Lasting only a very short time. Frugal Careful not to waste money or supplies. Futile Having no chance of success. Gregarious Fond of company; sociable. Impartial Treating all sides equally; not biased. Inevitable Certain to happen; impossible to avoid. Lucid Clear and easy to understand. Meticulous Very careful about small details. Mitigate Make something less severe or less painful. Mundane Ordinary and dull. Nuance A slight difference in meaning, tone or color. Obsolete No longer in use because something newer has replaced it. Plausible Seeming reasonable enough to be true. Pragmatic Concerned with what works in practice, not with theory. Prudent Showing care and good judgment about the future. Resilient Able to recover quickly from a setback. Scrutinize Examine something closely and critically. Skeptical Doubting that a claim is true until there is proof. Tangible Real enough to be touched or measured. Tenacious Holding on firmly; not giving up. Ubiquitous Seeming to be everywhere at once. Verbose Using more words than are needed.
Biology 30
Adenine The DNA base that pairs with thymine. Anaerobic Taking place without oxygen. Antibody A protein the immune system makes to lock onto one kind of invader. Codon Three bases in a row on messenger RNA that code for one amino acid. Diploid Having two full sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. Eukaryote An organism whose cells keep their DNA inside a nucleus. Fermentation Releasing energy from sugar without oxygen, as yeast does in bread dough. Gamete A reproductive cell, such as an egg, that carries one set of chromosomes. Glucose The simple sugar, C6H12O6, that cells break down for energy. Glycolysis The first stage of respiration, which splits glucose into pyruvate. Haploid Having a single set of chromosomes, as gametes do. Helix A spiral. DNA is a double one. Lipid A fat, oil or wax: a molecule that does not mix with water. Meiosis Cell division that makes gametes, each with half the usual number of chromosomes. Neuron A nerve cell. Nucleotide A building block of DNA or RNA: a sugar, a phosphate and a base. Pathogen A microbe that causes disease. Phloem Plant tissue that carries sugars from the leaves to the rest of the plant. Phylum The rank below kingdom in the classification of life. Prokaryote A one-celled organism with no nucleus, such as a bacterium. Replication The copying of a cell's DNA before it divides. Speciation The forming of a new species from an existing one. Stomata Tiny pores in a leaf that let gases in and out. Synapse The tiny gap across which one neuron signals the next. Taxonomy The science of naming and classifying living things. Thymine The DNA base that pairs with adenine. RNA uses uracil in its place. Transcription Copying a gene's DNA code into messenger RNA. Uracil The base that RNA uses where DNA has thymine. Xylem Plant tissue that carries water up from the roots. Zygote The first cell of a new organism, formed when two gametes join.
Chemistry 30
Alkali Describes the soft, reactive metals of group 1, such as sodium. Anion A negatively charged ion. Anode The electrode where oxidation takes place. Aqueous Dissolved in water. Avogadro The Italian scientist whose number, about 6.022 × 10²³, counts the particles in a mole. Buffer A solution that resists changes in pH when acid or base is added. Catalyst A substance that speeds up a reaction without being used up. Cathode The electrode where reduction takes place. Cation A positively charged ion. Covalent Describes a bond in which atoms share pairs of electrons. Endothermic Taking in heat from the surroundings. Enthalpy The heat content of a system held at constant pressure. Entropy A measure of disorder, or of how spread out the energy in a system is. Exothermic Giving off heat to the surroundings. Halogen An element in group 17 of the periodic table, such as chlorine or iodine. Hydroxide The ion of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom that many bases release in water. Isomer A molecule with the same formula as another but a different structure. Isotope One of two or more forms of an element that differ in their number of neutrons. Metalloid An element with some properties of metals and some of nonmetals. Molarity Concentration measured in moles of solute per liter of solution. Orbital A region around a nucleus where an electron is likely to be found. Oxidation The loss of electrons in a chemical reaction. Polarity An uneven spread of electric charge across a bond or a molecule. Polymer A long molecule made of many repeating units. Precipitate A solid that forms in a solution during a reaction and settles out. Redox Short name for a reaction in which electrons pass from one substance to another. Solubility How much of a substance will dissolve in a given amount of solvent. Stoichiometry The math of how much of each substance a reaction uses up and makes. Synthesis A reaction in which simpler substances join to make a more complex one. Valence Describes the outer electrons that an atom uses to form bonds.
Physics 30
Ampere The unit of electric current. Buoyancy The upward push of a fluid on an object placed in it. Capacitor A device that stores electric charge. Centripetal Pointing toward the center of a circular path. Coulomb The unit of electric charge. Displacement The straight-line change in position, including its direction. Doppler The physicist whose effect explains why a siren's pitch drops as it passes you. Elastic Describes a collision in which no kinetic energy is lost. Fission The splitting of a heavy nucleus into lighter ones, which releases energy. Fusion The joining of light nuclei into a heavier one, as happens in the Sun. Impulse Force multiplied by the time it acts, which equals the change in momentum. Induction Making a current flow by changing the magnetic field through a loop of wire. Interference What happens when two waves meet and either add together or cancel out. Joule The unit of energy and of work. Kinematics The study of motion without asking what causes it. Magnitude The size of a vector, leaving out its direction. Oscillate Swing back and forth in a steady rhythm. Pascal The unit of pressure: one newton per square meter. Pendulum A weight that swings freely from a fixed point. Photon A single packet of light energy. Projectile An object that is launched and then moves under gravity alone. Quantum The smallest amount of energy that can be gained or lost; a discrete step. Relativity Einstein's theory, first published in 1905, that links space and time. Resistance How strongly a material opposes electric current, measured in ohms. Resonance A large vibration that builds when pushes match an object's natural frequency. Resultant The single vector you get by adding two or more vectors. Scalar A quantity with size only, such as temperature. Torque The turning effect of a force about a pivot. Trajectory The curved path that a projectile follows. Vector A quantity with both size and direction, such as force.
Algebra and Functions 30
Arithmetic Describes a sequence that adds the same amount at every step. Asymptote A line that a graph gets closer and closer to as it runs off toward infinity. Binomial A polynomial with two terms, such as x + 5. Coefficient The number multiplied by a variable, such as the 7 in 7x. Combination A selection of items in which the order does not matter. Complex Describes a number with a real part and an imaginary part, such as 3 + 2i. Conjugate The partner of a + bi, which is a − bi. Degree The highest exponent in a polynomial. Derivative A function's rate of change at a point; a central idea of calculus. Determinant A single number worked out from a square matrix. Discriminant The b² − 4ac part of the quadratic formula. It tells how many real roots there are. Exponential Growing or shrinking by the same factor over each equal step. Extraneous Describes a root that the algebra produces but that fails in the original equation. Factorial The product of a positive whole number and every positive whole number below it. 5! is 120. Factoring Rewriting a polynomial as a product of simpler ones. Infinity Endlessness, written ∞. It is an idea and not a real number. Integral In calculus, the area under a curve between two points. Interval All the numbers between two endpoints. Limit The value a function approaches as its input nears a given number. Logarithm The exponent a base needs to reach a number. In base 10, log 100 is 2. Matrix A rectangular array of numbers set out in rows and columns. Parabola The U-shaped graph of a quadratic function. Permutation An arrangement of items in which the order matters. Piecewise Describes a function that follows different rules on different parts of its domain. Polynomial A sum of terms, each a number times a whole-number power of x. Quadratic Describes a polynomial of degree 2, such as x² + 3x + 2. Series The terms of a sequence added together. Sigma The Greek letter, Σ, that tells you to add up all the terms. Trinomial A polynomial with three terms. Variable A letter that stands for a number that can change.
Geometry and Trigonometry 30
Adjacent Next to. In a right triangle, the leg that touches the angle. Apothem The distance from the center of a regular polygon to the middle of a side. Centroid The point where a triangle's three medians meet; its balance point. Chord A segment that joins two points on a circle. Collinear Lying on the same straight line. Concentric Describes circles that share the same center. Conic Describes the curves made by slicing a cone, such as the ellipse and the parabola. Conjecture A statement believed true from a pattern but not yet proved. Converse An if-then statement with its two parts swapped. Corollary A result that follows easily from a theorem already proved. Cosine In a right triangle, the adjacent side divided by the hypotenuse. Deductive Describes reasoning from accepted facts and rules to a certain conclusion. Ellipse An oval curve; a circle stretched along one axis. Euclidean Describes the geometry of flat space, named for a Greek mathematician. Hyperbola A curve with two separate branches that mirror each other. Hypothesis A testable idea in science. In geometry, the if part of an if-then statement. Inscribed Drawn inside a figure so that it just touches the sides or the circle. Isometry A transformation that keeps every length the same. Locus The set of all points that satisfy a given condition. Midpoint The point halfway along a segment. Oblique Slanted: neither parallel nor at a right angle. Orthocenter The point where a triangle's three altitudes meet. Polyhedron A solid whose faces are all flat polygons. Postulate A statement accepted as true without proof. Proof A chain of logical steps showing that a statement must be true. Radian A unit of angle. A full turn is 2π of them, so 180° is π. Secant A line that cuts a circle at two points. Sector A region of a circle shaped like a slice of pie. Tangent A line that touches a circle at exactly one point. Also opposite over adjacent. Theta The Greek letter, θ, often used to name an unknown angle.
US History 30
Abolition The movement to end slavery. Alamo The San Antonio mission that fell to a Mexican army in 1836. Annexation Adding territory to a country, as the US did with Texas in 1845. Appomattox The Virginia village where Lee surrendered to Grant in April 1865. Boycott Refusing to buy or use something as a protest, as in Montgomery in 1955. Containment The Cold War policy of stopping communism from spreading. Depression A long, severe economic slump, like the one that began in 1929. Detente The easing of Cold War tension between the US and the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Doctrine A stated policy, such as Monroe's 1823 warning to European powers. Emancipation The freeing of enslaved people. Lincoln's 1863 proclamation carries this name. Embargo A government ban on trade with another country. Federalist A supporter of ratifying the Constitution, as Madison, Hamilton and Jay were. Gettysburg The Pennsylvania battle of July 1863 that ended Lee's invasion of the North. Harlem The New York neighborhood where Black art and music flowered in the 1920s and 1930s. Impeach Bring formal charges against an official. For federal officials, only the House can do it. Internment The forced confinement of Japanese Americans in camps during World War II. Isolationism A policy of staying out of other nations' alliances and wars. Nativism Favoring people born in a country over immigrants. Nullify Declare a federal law void within a state, as South Carolina tried to in 1832. Populist Describes the farmers' party of the 1890s that challenged banks and railroads. Prohibition The national ban on making and selling alcohol, from 1920 to 1933. Reconstruction The years 1865 to 1877, when the defeated South was rebuilt and readmitted. Secession The withdrawal of 11 Southern states from the Union in 1860 and 1861. Segregation Keeping racial groups apart by law or by custom. Sharecropper A farmer who paid the landowner rent with a share of the crop. Strike Workers stopping work together to press for better pay or conditions. Suffrage The right to vote. The 19th Amendment extended it to women in 1920. Tenement A crowded, run-down city apartment building, home to many immigrant families. Union Workers organized to bargain together. Also the North in the Civil War. Watergate The scandal that led President Nixon to resign in 1974.
Modern World History 30
Absolutism Rule by a monarch whose power has no legal limits. Apartheid South Africa's system of racial separation under white-minority rule, from 1948 to 1994. Appeasement Giving in to an aggressor's demands to keep the peace, as at Munich in 1938. Armistice An agreement to stop fighting. One ended World War I on 11 November 1918. Bastille The Paris fortress and prison stormed on 14 July 1789. Berlin The German city divided by a wall from 1961 to 1989. Bolshevik A member of Lenin's party, which seized power in Russia in 1917. Capitalism An economy built on private ownership and free markets. Colonialism One country taking control of another land and its people. Communism A system with no private property, set out by Marx and Engels in 1848. Enlightenment The movement of the late 1600s and the 1700s that put reason and individual liberty first. Fascism Dictatorship built on extreme nationalism, as in Italy under Mussolini. Glasnost Openness: Gorbachev's 1980s policy of freer speech in the Soviet Union. Imperialism Building an empire by seizing colonies or dominating weaker states. Kaiser The title of the German emperor until 1918. Luddite An English textile worker of the 1810s who smashed the machines taking jobs. Meiji The era from 1868 to 1912 in which Japan modernized at speed. Mercantilism The belief that a nation grows rich by exporting more than it imports. Napoleon The general who crowned himself Emperor of the French in 1804. Nationalism Strong loyalty to one's own nation, often placed above all others. Ottoman Describes the Turkish empire that lasted from about 1300 to 1922. Propaganda Slanted information spread to win support for a cause. Reformation The movement that split Western Christianity, begun by Luther in 1517. Sepoy An Indian soldier in the East India Company's army. Their mutiny began the 1857 rebellion. Socialism An economy in which the community or the state owns the major industries. Soviet A workers' council in Russia. The word later named the whole union. Sputnik The first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Totalitarian Describes a state that controls every part of public and private life. Trench A long ditch that sheltered soldiers on the Western Front. Versailles The palace near Paris where the 1919 peace treaty with Germany was signed.
Government and Economics 30
Appellate Describes a court that reviews the decisions of lower courts. Bicameral Having two chambers, as Congress does with the House and the Senate. Bipartisan Backed by both major parties. Caucus A meeting of party members to choose candidates or settle policy. Census The count of the whole US population, taken every 10 years. Cloture The Senate vote that ends a filibuster. On a bill it takes 60 of the 100 senators. Deficit The amount by which spending exceeds income in a year. Electoral Describes the college of 538 electors who formally choose the president. Equity What an owner holds: the value of a property minus what is owed on it. Federalism The division of power between the national government and the states. Filibuster A long speech or other delay used to block a vote in the Senate. Fiscal To do with government taxing and spending. Gerrymander Draw district lines to favor one party. Named in 1812 for Governor Gerry. Jurisdiction The authority of a court to hear a particular case. Legislation Laws, or the work of making them. Libel A false written statement that harms someone's reputation. Lobbyist A person paid to persuade lawmakers on behalf of a group. Monetary To do with the money supply and interest rates. Monopoly Control of a whole market by a single seller. Mortgage A loan used to buy a home, with the home as security. The t is silent. Precedent An earlier court ruling that guides later ones. Primary An election in which a party's voters choose its candidate. Quorum The smallest number of members who must be present to do business. Recession A period of falling economic output. A common rule of thumb is two quarters in a row. Referendum A direct vote by citizens on a law or a question. Sovereignty A state's supreme power to govern itself. Subpoena A legal order to appear in court or to hand over evidence. Subsidy Government money paid to keep a good or service cheaper. Surplus The amount by which income exceeds spending. Warrant A judge's written order allowing a search or an arrest.
How this list was compiled: Word choices and meanings are our own work, checked on 2026-09-20. The grade is our suggestion. Spellings: a standard American English word list, then https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hubris , https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lipid , https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/eukaryote , https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prokaryote , https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/midpoint , https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/detente , https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glasnost , https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/factoring ; place names, names of people and borrowed words (Appomattox, Gettysburg, Versailles, Meiji, Sputnik, Avogadro, Doppler) follow the Wikipedia pages below. Every date, number and attribution in a meaning was checked on 2026-09-20 against these pages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_era , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Party_%28United_States%29 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_annexation , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_bus_boycott , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nullification_crisis , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Appomattox_Court_House , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamo , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9tente , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containment , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_fascism , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_%28council%29 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_of_11_November_1918 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Agreement , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storming_of_the_Bastille , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_of_Napoleon , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_era , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_II , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloture , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_census , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recession , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_code , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_pair , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiosis , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycolysis , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylem , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avogadro_constant , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkali_metal , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redox , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anode , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxide , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_derived_unit , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampere , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambic_pentameter , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radian , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discriminant , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centroid , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_%28triangle%29 , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apothem , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factorial (positive whole numbers only; 5! is 120) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asymptote (a curve may cross its asymptote, so the meaning does not say they never meet). The impeachment page was read again on 2026-09-20: the House has the sole power for federal officials, and state legislatures impeach state officials. Licence: own work