AP Human Geography Unit 4

Acculturation

The process of changes in culture that result from the meeting of two groups, each of which retains distinct cultural features.

Assimilation

The process by which a group's cultural features are altered to resemble those of another more dominant group.

Climate

The long-term average weather at a particular location.

Culture

The body of customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that together constitute a group's distinct tradition.

Custom

The frequent repetition of an act, to the extent that it becomes characteristic of the group of people performing the act.

Dowry

The money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage.

Environment

The complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors (such as climate, soil, and living things) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival.

Folk Culture

Culture traditionally practiced by a small, homogenous, rural group living in relative isolation from other groups.

Habit

A repetitive act performed by a particular individual.

Material Culture

The totality of physical objects made by a people for the satisfaction of their needs; especially: those articles requisite for the sustenance and perpetuation of life.

Popular Culture

Culture found in a large, heterogeneous society that shared certain habits despite differences in other personal characteristics.

Taboo

A restriction on behavior imposed by social custom.

Terroir

The contribution of a location's distinctive physical features to the way food tastes.