H AP World History Words

Hundred Years' War

(1337-1453) War fought between France and England for control of the French throne

Hundred Days

(1815) Period that marks the time between Napoleon's return to Paris from Elba (March 20), his final defeat at Waterloo (June 18), and the restoration of King Louis XVIII (June 28)

Haiku

A Japanese poem that consists of 17 syllables set in three lines

Hieroglyphics

A form of ancient writing in which picture symbols represent sounds

Hydrogen Bomb

A nuclear weapon that gets its power from the fusing together of hydrogen atoms

Hominid

An early humanlike creature that is believed to be the ancestor of humans

Hyperinflation

An extremely high level of inflation that grows rapidly in a short period of time

Heresy

An opinion that goes against the teachings of a church

Hanseatic League

An organization of north-German cities and towns that organized and controlled trade throughout northern Europe from the 1200s through the 1400s

Hoplites

Foot soldiers in ancient Greece

Hubris

Great pride

Helots

In ancient Greece, state slaves

Hegira

Mohammad's journey from Mecca to Medina

Hunter-Gatherers

People who hunt animals and gather wild plants to provide for their needs

Holy Land

Region that included Jerusalem and the are around it, considered holy by Jews, Christians, and Muslims

Heliocentric Theory

Scientific theory that has the sun as the center of the universe with the earth rotating around the sun

Hellenistic

The blending of Greek cultures with those of Persia, Egypt, and Central Asia following the conquests of Alexander the Great

Holocaust

The killing of millions of Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II

Hinduism

The largest religion in India; Hindus believe that everything in the world is a power of Brahman, the single great universal being; they also believe in reincarnation and strive to break free from the cycle of rebirth.

Hindu-Arabic Numerals

The number system that we use today, created by Indian scholars and brought to Europe by Arabs

Huguenot

a French Protestant

Humanism

an intellectual movement during the Renaissance that focused on the study of worldly subjects, such as poetry and philosophy, and on human potential and achievements