Historical Dictionary

A glossary of historical terms

The dictionary is a compendium of facts, figures, mini-biographies and definitions of historical terms. It covers people, places, key events and epochs. Each entry is concise and expertly written, and the dictionary is ideal as a study tool or to improve your knowledge of history.

To explore the dictionary, enter a term in the search box below.

You can also browse through the dictionary by alphabetical entry.

Abbas I (the Great)	Allied powers (World War II)	Ardipithecus ramidus
Abbasid caliphate	Almanzor (al-Mansur)	Argos
Abd al-Rahman I	Almeida, Francisco de	Arianism
Abd al-Rahman III	Almohad caliphate	Arikamedu
Abdul Hamud II	Almoravid emirate	Ariovistus
Abolitionists	Alp Arslan	Aristagoras of Miletus
Absolutism	Alsace-Lorraine	Aristarchos of Samos
Abu al-Abbas	Altaic languages	Aristotle
Abu Bakr	Altamira	Arkwright, Richard
Abu Simbel	Alva, Fernando Alvarez de	Armagh
Abyssinian Crisis	Alwa	Armagnac dynasty
Acadia	Amalasuntha, Queen	Armenia
Aceh	Amalekites	Arminius
Achaea	Amaravati	Arms race
Achemenes	Amboina	Arsacids
Achemenid empire	Ambrose	Arsuf, Battle of
Acheulian	Amenemhet I	Arvad
Acre	American Civil War	Arverni
Acropolis	American Revolution	Aryans
Act of Union (1707)	Amiens, Treaty of	Arzawa
Act of Union (1801)	Amin, Idi	Asante
Actium, Battle of	Amorites	Asante wars
Adad-nirari II	Amphictonies	Ascalon, Battle of
Adal	Amritsar massacre	Ashikaga shogunate
Adams, John	An Lushan	Ashoka
Adams, John Quincy	Anabaptists	Ashur
Adelaide	Anarchism	Ashurbanipal
Aden	Anasazi culture	Ashurnasirpal II
Adena	Anastasius	Asia (Roman province)
Adenauer, Konrad	Anatolia	Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC)
Adowa	Ancien Régime	Asiento Treaty
Adrianople	Ancient Greece	Aspero tradition
Adulis	Andean civilizations	Assad, Hafez al
Aegospotami, Battle of	Angel Island	Assam
Aeolia, Aeolian Greeks	Angevin dynasty	Assassins (Ismaili Nizari)
Aeschylos	Angkor	Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Aethelbald	Angles	Assyria
Aetius	Anglican church	Asturias
Aetolia	Anglo-Boer wars	Asuka
Afanasevo culture	Anglo-Dutch wars	Atahuallpa
Afghan wars	Anglo-Japanese Naval Alliance	Ataturk, Kemal
African Democratic Federation	Anglo-Saxons	Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad
African National Congress (ANC)	Angola	Athos, Mount
African-Americans	Anjou	Atlantic Charter
Agadir crisis	Ankara, Battle of	Atlantic, Battle of the
Agamemnon	Annam	Atrebates
Aghlabid emirate	Anne, Queen of Great Britain	Atropatene
Agincourt, Battle of	Anschluss	Attalids
Agra	Anse aux Meadows, l'	Attalus I
Agri Decumates	Ansei Treaties	Attica
Agricultural Revolution	Antietam, battle of	Attila
Ah Cacau	Antigonos	Audiencia
Ahab	Antioch, Antiochia	Augsburg, League of
Ahmad Shah Durrani	Antioch, principality of	Augsburg, Peace of
Ahmose	Antiochus III	Augustine, St
Ahura Mazda	Antiochus IV	Augustulus, Romulus
Ain Jalut, Battle of	Antipope	Augustus
Air, kingdom of	Antonine dynasty	Augustus II
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of	Antonine Wall	Aung San
Ajanta	Antoninus Pius	Aung San Suu Kyi
Ajmer	Antony, Mark	Aurangabad
Akbar	Antony, St	Aurangzeb
Akhenaten	Anuradhapura	Aurelian
Akkad (Agade)	Anyang	Aurelius, Marcus
Al Fatah	ANZAC	Aurignacian culture
al-Fustat	ANZUS pact	Auschwitz
al-Qadisiya, Battle of	Apache	Ausgleich
Ala-ud-Din Khalji	Apartheid	Austerlitz, Battle of
Alamo, Battle of the	Apollonius of Perge	Australian Aboriginals
Alamut	Appeasement	Australopithecus afarensis
Alans	Appomattox	Australopithecus africanus
Alaric	Aquileia	Australopithecus robustus
Alaungpaya	Aquino, Corazon	Austrasia
Albert II	Aquitaine	Austria-Hungary
Albigensian Crusade	Aquitania, Aquitaine	Austrian empire
Albion	Arab League	Austrian Netherlands
Albuquerque, Afonso de	Arab Revolt	Austrian Succession, War of the
Alcazarquivir, Battle of	Arab-Israeli conflict	Austro-Asiatic peoples
Alemanni	Arabic	Austro-Prussian War
Alesia	Arabs	Austronesian
Aleuts	Arachosia	Authoritarianism
Alexander I (Czar of Russia)	Arafat, Yassir	Ava
Alexander I (King of Yugoslavia)	Aragon	Avanti
Alexander II	Aram, Aramaeans	Avars
Alexander III	Aram-Damascus	Avebury henge
Alexander the Great	Aramaic	Avignon papacy
Alexander VI	Araucanians	Awsa
Alexandria	Arausio, Battle of	Axis powers
Alexius I Comnenus	Arawak	Axum
Alfred the Great	Arcadia	Ayacucho, Battle of
Algeciras Conference	Arcadiopolis, Battle of	Ayub Khan
Algerian Civil War	Archaic period (Greece)	Ayutthaya
Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN)	Archaic period (Mesoamerican)	Ayyubid dynasty
Ali	Archangel	Azerbaijan
Aljubarrota, Battle of	Archimedes	Azov
Alkibiades	Arcola, Battle of	Aztecs
Allende Gossens, Salvador	Ardashir	Azuchi-Momoyama period
Allied powers (World War I)

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