A
Ab – Welsh, meaning “son of.” See also Ap, Map, Mac, Mc.
*update* Abstract – a summary of a document that preserves the important details of a source document. Considered a Secondary source, as it may leave out information that might otherwise be helpful, but otherwise unrecorded because the original person summarizing felt was insignificant.
Accadian – inhabitant of Acadia (Nova Scotia); a descendant of French settlers from Acadia who live in Louisiana. Also Cajun.
AD – Latin for Anno Domini, literally, “in the year of our lord.” Referring to the years 0 and after in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. See also CE and BCE.
Adoption – To take a child into one’s family by legal means, giving them the same rights as natural-born children to the family.
Ahnentafel – German. Literally meaning “ancestor” + “table.” A system for numbering the ancestral generations before an individual
AKA – Literally “Also Known As.”
Alias – A false or alternative name for an individual.
Alien – A person foreign to the country in which they currently reside.
Amish – a sect of the Mennonite church that keeps to Luddite ways. See Mennonite, Luddite.
Ancestor – A person who an individual is descended from.
Antecedent – Another term for Ancestor.
Ap – Welsh, meaning “son of.” See also Ab, Map, Mac, Mc.
Apprentice – an old-fashioned job-training system, whereby the apprentice was the student of a master at a craft, and was paid less because he was learning the craft. Often lived with the master, or in the building where he worked.
Ashkenazi – A group of Jewish people from the area of Eastern Europe.
Aunt – the sister of a person’s father or mother. Also, the wife of one’s Uncle.
