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noun 1 the expression of creative skill through a visual medium such as painting or sculpture. 2 the product of such a process; paintings, drawings, and sculpture collectively. 3 (the arts) the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, and drama. 4(arts) subjects of study primarily concerned with human culture (as contrasted with scientific or technical subjects). 5 a skill: the art of conversation.
— ORIGIN Latin ars.
plural noun
1 the moral principles governing or influencing conduct.
2 the branch of knowledge concerned with moral principles.
— DERIVATIVES ethicist noun.
noun (pl. histories) 1 the study of past events. 2 the past considered as a whole. 3 the past events connected with someone or something. 4 a continuous record of past events or trends.
— PHRASES be history informal be dismissed or dead; be finished. the rest is history the events succeeding those already related are so well known that they need not be recounted again.
— ORIGIN Greek historia ‘narrative, history’, from histor ‘learned, wise man’.
If you are like most IB Diploma students, it’s very likely that you will have already travelled through a lot of towns and cities, visited a good number of countries, met many different people, and spoken (or tried to speak) in various foreign languages. You may pride yourself on how diverse your experiences have been; indeed, encouraging diversity and internationalism is probably one of the proud boasts made by the school in which you are studying, and one of the reasons why your parents decided to send you there.
However, it is also possible that you have managed to experience all these things without having had to operate outside of knowledge systems that are familiar to you, or shift the paradigm through which you view the world in order to make sense of things. Walk down the main street of any major city in the world, and it’s likely to contain cafes and restaurants that you’ll find anywhere else. Enter a clothing store, and you’ll probably be able to use one of the four or five languages that are prevalent in your school to make your purchase.
plural noun usu. treated as sing. the branch of science concerned with number, quantity, and space, either as abstract ideas (pure mathematics) or as applied to physics, engineering, and other subjects (applied mathematics).
— DERIVATIVES mathematical adjective mathematically adverb mathematician noun.
— ORIGIN from Greek mathema ‘science’, from manthanein ‘learn’.
Religious knowledge systems is one of the two new areas of knowledge for 2013 (along with indigenous knowledge systems), and the fact that it was only recent included prompts us to consider the nature of the knowledge it represents. Clearly, not everyone is religious, and even those who are are deeply divided in terms of their belief system, with different religions offering very different interpretations of the earth’s divine origin, and the most effective route to eternal salvation. The OED says…
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods: ideas about the relationship between science and religion; a particular system of faith and worship: the world’s great religions; a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion: consumerism is the new religion