vocab test

mercantile

Related to commerce or trade.

Renaissance

French for 'rebirth'; refers to a period of cultural revival in Europe from the 1300s to the 1500s.

patron

Someone who gives money or other support to a person or group.

humanism

A cultural movement of the Renaissance based on the study of classical works.

secularism

The view that religion need not be the center of human affairs.

vernacular

Everyday spoken language.

individualism

The belief in the importance of the individual as opposed to the larger community.

utopia

An imaginary, ideal place.

satire

Work of literature that makes fun of its subject, often mocking vice or folly.

civic

Having to do with city or town life.

prestige

Respect and admiration from others.

linear perspective

A mathematical system for representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface.

engraving

An art form in which an artist etches a design on a metal plate with a needle and acid.

proportion

Using balanced or symmetric elements to form a pleasing design.

sonnet

A poem of 14 lines with a fixed rhyming pattern.

artificial

Un-natural or human-made.

melancholy

Depressed or sad.

movable type

A format of printmaking, in which individual letters formed in metal could be used again and again.

censor

To ban dangerous or offensive ideas, or remove material from published works, or prevent its publication.

recant

To withdraw or take back.

linen

A cloth made from the flax plant.

doctrine

A set of principles or system of belief.

Reformation

A religious movement that began in the 1500s to reform the Catholic Church.

indulgence

A kind of cancellation of punishment for sin.

sacrament

Sacred rites of Christianity, such as baptism and communion.

sect

A subgroup of a major religious group.

predestination

The idea that God had long ago determined who would gain salvation.

theocracy

A government run by religious power.

ghetto

Separate section of a city where members of a minority group are forced to live.

temperament

A specific person’s way of behaving and thinking.

annulment

An official act ending marriage.

edict

An official public order made by a king or other authority.

armada

A fleet of warships.

federalism

A form of government in which power is shared between local and national levels.

rationalism

The belief that knowledge is gained by thinking things through using reason.

heliocentric theory

The theory that places the sun at the center of the universe.

heresy

A belief that is rejected by official Church doctrine.

empiricism

Theory that all knowledge is gained through experience and observing with the senses.

inductive reasoning

The process of looking at specific facts and making general principles or rules based on those facts.

scientific method

A method of using observation, experiments, and careful reasoning to gain new knowledge.