You will see all of the words below in your Art History test. You may already know some or all of these words but if you don’t, here are the definitions.
These words will not give you the answers to the questions but they will help you to understand the questions.
If you don’t understand the English definition of these words, look them up before the test in your own language.
You will be allowed to bring this word list into the test with you.
TIP: You might know someone who is also taking this test and who speaks the same first language as you. Why not suggest that you divide this list between you, each look up half the words and then give each other your definitions? It would save a lot of time!
| according to | in a way that depends on differences in situations or amounts |
| architect | someone whose job is to design buildings |
| axis | a line drawn across the middle of a regular shape that divides it into two equal parts |
| bands | thin strips which split or separate an image into different levels or parts, like in a cartoon strip |
| bench | a long seat for two or more people, especially outdoors |
| burial | the act or ceremony of putting a dead body into a grave often in the ground |
| cast | to make an object by pouring liquid metal, plastic etc into a mould (=hollow container) |
| chest | the front part of your body between your neck and your stomach |
| columns | a tall solid upright stone post used to support a building or as a decoration |
| culture | the beliefs, way of life, art, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society |
| decipher | to find the meaning of something that is difficult to read or understand |
| idealised | to imagine or represent something or someone as being perfect or better than they really are (‘idealized’ in American English) |
| image | a picture or shape of a person or thing that is copied onto paper or is cut in wood or stone |
| imaginary | not real, but produced from pictures or ideas in your mind |
| inhabit | if animals or people inhabit an area or place, they live there |
| jar | a container made of clay, stone etc used especially in the past for keeping food or drink in |
| layers | an amount or piece of a material or substance that covers a surface or that is between two other things |
| limestone | a type of rock that contains calcium |
| lungs | one of the two organs in your body that you breathe with |
| melt | if something solid melts or if heat melts it, it becomes liquid |
| mirror (image) | an image of something in which the right side appears on the left, and the left side appears on the right |
| mummification | to preserve a dead body by putting special oils on and salts on it then wrapping it with cloth |
| object | a solid thing that you can hold, touch, or see but that is not alive |
| overhanging | to hang over something or stick out above it |
| palette | a board or surface that an artist uses to mix paints |
| pictorial | using or relating to paintings, drawings, or photographs |
| platform | a tall structure built so that people can stand or work above the surrounding area |
| portrait | a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person |
| pour | to make a liquid or other substance flow out of or into a container by holding it at an angle |
| preserve | to save something or someone from being harmed or destroyed and to make it continue without changing |
| pyramid | a large stone building with four triangular (=three-sided) walls that slope in to a point at the top, especially in Egypt and central America |
| recent | having happened or started only a short time ago |
| relationship | the way in which two or more things are connected and affect each other |
| sand | a substance consisting of very small pieces of rocks and minerals that forms beaches and deserts |
| shallow | measuring only a short distance from the top to the bottom [opposite of deep] |
| silicate | one of a group of common solid mineral substances that exist naturally in the earth |
| small scale | an art work which is small in size |
| soul | the part of a person that is not physical, and that contains their character, thoughts, and feelings. many people believe that a person's soul continues to exist after they have died |
| spirit | a creature without a physical body that some people believe exists, such as an angel or a dead person, who has returned to this world and has strange or magical powers [same as ghost] |
| split | to separate into parts also split up - to divide or separate something into different parts or groups, or to be divided into different parts or groups |
| statue | an image of a person or animal that is made in solid material such as stone or metal and is usually large [same as sculpture] |
| statuette | a very small statue that can be put on a table or shelf |
| storage | when you keep or put something in a special place while it is not being used |
| structure | something that has been built, especially something large such as a building or a bridge |
| supernatural | impossible to explain by natural causes, and therefore seeming to involve the powers of gods or magic |
| temple | a building where people go to worship, in the Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Mormon religions |
| text | anything that is written |
| timber | wood used for building or making things [= lumber American English] |
| to bury | to put someone who has died in a grave often in the ground |
| to print | to make a mark on a surface or in a soft substance by pressing something on to it |
| tomb | a stone structure above or below the ground where a dead person is buried |
| tonal values | relating to tones of colour or sound |
| unification | the act of combining two or more groups, countries etc to make a single group or country |
| varnish | a clear liquid that is painted onto things, especially things made of wood, to protect them, or the hard shiny surface produced by this |
| wax | a solid substance made of fat or oil and used to make candles, polish etc |
| worship | to show respect and love for a god, especially by praying in a religious building |