| Abeyance | A state where the right to property, titles, or office has not yet been determined. |
| Abstract | A document that contains information extracted from an original document. It contains information on the date of the record, names, relationships, and etc. |
| Ad litem | An appointment to act in behalf of someone who is incapable of representing themselves, such as a child or someone that is deceased. |
| Administration | An action used by a court to settle the estate of a person who has no executor, or no will to administer the estate. |
| Affidavit | A statement made under oath, either written or oral. |
| Ahnentafel | A genealogical numbering system which numbers the person of interest as number 1 and ancestors of that person in increasing order. Each generation back in time doubles the number of ancestors identified. |
| Alien | The citizen of a country other than the one under consideration. |
| Ancestral File | A repository of genealogical records created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that preceded and was replaced by the current FamilySearch repository. |
| Ancestor | A person in the family tree preceding the person under consideration in time. For example, Grandparent, Great Grandparent, etc. |
| Annotation | Annotations are used in genealogical research to provide proofs of research performed and support of statements and conclusions made. They are normally in the form of footnotes, but may also be included in the main text of the document. |
| Antebellum | Referring to occurrences previous to the Civil War. |
| Archive (Arch) | A repository where records are kept. |
| Artifact | An object containing information, normally on paper media, but not necessarily. |
| Assignment | The act of legally turning over property, rights or privileges to another person. |
| Authenticate | To prove the truth or authenticity of a document. |
| Autobiography | The story of a person’s life as told by the person themselves. |
| Banns | An announcement of the intention to marry. |
| Baptism | A religious ceremony where a person becomes a member of a Church. |
| Base-born | An illegitimate birth. |
| Bastard | The child of parents who were not married. |
| Bequeath | The act of giving property to others after one’s death. |
| Biography (Bio) | The story of a person’s life as told by someone else. |
| Birth | Having a child. The point at which the child is no longer in the mother. |
| Birth Certificate | A document recording a birth event. |
| Bond | A binding agreement to fulfill the requirements set forth in the document or suffer the penalties involved. Used with marriage, land, and court records by estate executors, grooms and guardians. |
| Bounds | The physical boundaries or limits of a piece of land, wither natural or man-made. |
| Bounty land | Property used as an inducement for military service. |
| Burial | Where the deceased is laid to rest. |
| Cemetery | Graveyard or burial ground. |
| Census | A periodic count or recording of information on citizens of a particular nation. |
| Chart | A visual means of representing data. See Pie charts, Line charts, Bar charts, etc. |
| Child | Once single offspring. |
| Christen Name | First or Middle name, but not Last Name. |
| Christening (Chr) | A baptism into a church. |
| Church | A building in which people meet for religious purposes. Also refers to a group of people with specific defined religious beliefs. |
| Civil law | Laws of private or civil rights as versus Criminal law established by governmental organizations. |
| Codicil | An amendment to an existing will. |
| Collateral Line | A family line connecting into a common ancestor, but not associated with the person of interest until reaching the common ancestor. |
| Common ancestor | A person who is the ancestor of more than one person. |
| Confederacy | The states that seceded from the United States of America during the Civil War. |
| Consanguinity | The determination of relatedness between people. Collateral lines are Collateral consanguinity and direct lines are lineal consanguinity. |
| Consort | A companion, whether by marriage or not. |
| Conveyance | A document transferring title to property from one owner to another. |
| County | A governmental unit larger than a city and smaller than a nation. See also Shire, Province, etc. |
| Cousin | The child of an aunt or uncle. |
| Court proceedings | A recording of the events that take place in a court. |
| Criminal law | Laws established by governmental organizations instead of private or civil rights. |
| Date | When an event took place. |
| Daughter | Female child or offspring of a person. |
| Daughter-in-law | Female wife of a person’s son. See also step-daughter. |
| Death | The separation of the spirit from the body. Passing beyond the veil. |
| Death Certificate | A document containing information on the death of a person, usually by someone certified to do so. |
| Deceased | A person that died. |
| Declaration of intention | The document showing intention to become a United States citizen. |
| Deed | A document that record the possession of property, normally land. |
| DNA | Deoxyribonucleic acid. A self-replicating material and carrier of genetic information used in living entities. |
| Descendant | A person which descended from a particular ancestor. The child, child of a child, etc. to all generations after the ancestor. |
| Devise | The act of giving a gift of real property in a will. |
| Directory | An index containing brief and organized information about a subject matter. Normally points to other artifacts. |
| Dissenter | Someone rejecting membership in the Church of England. |
| Double dating | Writing a date in both Julian and Gregorian formats. Not all countries converted to Gregorian at the same time and double dating translated Julian to Gregorian in explanation. |
| Dowager | A widow having title or property given to her when her husband died. |
| Dower | The lifetime support given to a widow from the deceased husband’s estate. |
| Dowry | The property given by a bride to her husband at marriage. |
| Emancipated | Freed from control, whether parental or enslavement. |
| Emigrant | Person leaving a country to go to another, with the emphasis on the country being exited. |
| Emigration | Leaving a home country to live in another. (See also Immigration.) |
| Encumbrance | A liability placed on a property as a claim against it. |
| Enumeration | A count of the population, such as in a census. |
| Estate | The assets and liabilities of someone that died. |
| Event | A happening. Something that took place at a specific time and location. |
| Evidence | Proof. |
| Executor | The person appointed to carry out the will of the deceased in disposing of the estate. Executrix is the female version of the word executor. |
| Family | The basic unit in society, traditionally consisting of a man and a wife with their children, if any. |
| Family Group Sheet (FGS) | A document containing information on one particular family, showing Parents and Children. |
| Family histories | Published works detailing the genealogical facts of a family. |
| Family Organization | An organization for the purpose of remembering, finding, and recording information about extended families. |
| Fan Chart | A diagram showing parental relationships of a family for multiple generations as well as the first generation of children. Similar to a Pedigree Chart, but formatted in a fan shape. |
| Father | A male parent. |
| Fee simple | Property without conditions or claims against it. |
| Fortnight | Two weeks. |
| Gazetteer | A book containing a geographical index of the descriptions of places in a specific area. |
| GEDCOM | GEnealogy Data COMmunications format for transferring data between computers. |
| Grantee | Person receiving or being granted property. |
| Grantor | Person giving or granting property. |
| Grave | The location where a person is buried. |
| Guardian | The person appointed to care for a person of interest. |
| Heir | The person inheriting property from an estate after the death of an ancestor. |
| Heir apparent | The person establishing the right to inherit property if they outlive the ancestor. |
| Hunt | To seek for something. |
| IGI | International Genealogical Index |
| Illegitimate | The child of unmarried parents. |
| Immigrant | Person moving to a country from an old country, with the emphasis on the new country instead of the old. |
| Immigration | Moving into a country. (See also Emigration.) |
| Incarceration | The act of putting someone in jail. |
| Index | To enter data into a computer in order to allow the computer to build an Index on that data for the purpose of searching it for information. |
| Indentured servant | Person bound to serve a sentence for a specific period of time. Many white people caught stealing in England had to serve 7 year sentences in America. |
| Individual | One single person, as opposed to a group of people. |
| Infant | Person under age of accountability. |
| Instant | Of this month. |
| Intestate | Someone who died without a will. |
| Inventory | List of property in an estate. |
| Issue | Children. |
| Knave | Male servant child. |
| Lessee | Someone that leases property from others. |
| Lessor | Someone that leases out property to others. |
| Letter | A communication of a message to someone at a distance, either by paper or electronic means. |
| Library | A building or electronic repository which stores books and other media as a means of sharing knowledge. |
| Lien | A claim or encumbrance on property for money owed. |
| Litigant | A person involved in a lawsuit. |
| Loyalist | A person that lived in America, but supported the British in the American revolution. |
| Maiden name | The last name of a woman at birth. |
| Major | Someone having reached legal age. |
| Marriage | A covenant between spouses. A way for the community to recognize the the formation of a family. |
| Marriage Bond | Document prior to marriage showing here was no legal or moral reason the couple could not be married. |
| Marriage Certificate | A document containing information on the marriage between two spouses. |
| Memory | Knowledge of an event. |
| Metes and bounds | A means of surveying property using applicable measuring methods and topographical features. |
| Microfilm | Durable film on which images of documents where captured. |
| Military Record | Records showing events in the military career of a person. |
| Militia | Military organization of local citizens. |
| Minor | A person under legal age. |
| Mortality schedule | Census schedule of people who died during the census year. |
| Mother | A female parent. |
| Mulatto | Someone with both white and black ancestors. |
| Name | An identifier given at birth. |
| Naturalization records | Documentation showing proof that a person was able to gain citizenship. |
| Nee | Denotes birth, as in a woman’s maiden name. |
| Newspaper | A set of papers folded together containing information of interest for a particular period of time. |
| Nuncupative will | An Oral will attested to by a sufficient number of witnesses. |
| Obituary | A newspaper article discussing the death and/or burial of a person. |
| Old Dominion | Virginia. |
| Oral history | Family stories passed down orally within the family. |
| Paleography | The study of handwriting. |
| Parent | A person having offspring. |
| Parish | A religious or governmental unit smaller than a city. |
| Parish Church | Many parishes have a church building as its central location and repository of records. |
| Passenger list | A list of names of passengers that took passage on the ship. |
| Patent (Pat) | A document showing proprietary control of specific possessions. Can be intellectual property or land. |
| Pedigree Chart (PC) | A diagram showing parental relationships of a family for multiple generations. |
| Pension | Benefit paid for service in the military. |
| Pensioner | Person receiving pension benefits. |
| Personal History | A story of a person’s life written by the person themselves. |
| Picture | An image taken by a camera or painted by a painter |
| Poll tax | A tax levied on families by head of household as a substitute for land ownership and required for voting. |
| Posthumous | Events happening after a person’s death. |
| Power of attorney | Document appointing a person as another person’s agent and authorizing them to act in their behalf. |
| Primary source | Records created when an event occurs, not afterward. |
| Probate | The action or process of proving that a will is genuine. |
| Quit rent roll | List of those paying an annual fee to the King to live on and farm property in Virginia. |
| Quitclaim deed | Document giving up all claims to property without needing to guarantee clear title. |
| Quod vide | See this as well, as in, also look at a reference in another part of the document. |
| Real property | Land and anything attached to it, whether naturally or human made. |
| Receiver | Person holding property until a suit is settled. |
| Reconveyance | Transferring property to the original owner after being sold to another. |
| Record | A formal way to remember something. A document, text, or mage, manual or electronic. |
| Reeve | English sheriff. |
| Schedule | A US census form. |
| Search | To seek for something. The act of seeking. |
| Secondary source | Document created some time after the event, instead of at the time it occurred. |
| Seekers | Those that search for that which was lost or that’s location is unknown. |
| Ship Passenger Lists | A list of passengers on a particular voyage normally having minimal information. |
| Sibling | Brother or sister. |
| Sic | “Thus”. Indicates that although the info is copied exactly as the original stated, there may be a mistake. |
| Social Security Death Index | Index of people either having social security numbers upon death, or relatives having applied for benefits upon their death in the United States. |
| Soundex | A methodology that relates like sounding names together. This helps catch misspellings or spellings that have changed over time, especially with last names. |
| Source | An artifact used to prove a fact. The source of the information. |
| Sponsor | Someone other than a parent that takes responsibility for a child. |
| Statute | A law. |
| Stepchild | A child of a spouse from a prior marriage. |
| Story | A recording of an event or events either fictional or real. |
| Testate | A person who died with a valid will. |
| Testator | A man who has a valid will. Testatrix is the female form of the word. |
| Titheable | Someone that is taxable by the law. |
| Title Record | A record showing evidence of a legal right or possession. |
| Township | A populated area of land with six miles on each side. |
| Transcribe | To make a full copy of a written work. |
| Trust | A legal document showing ownership of property on behalf of others. |
| Ultimo | Last month. |
| Unprobated will | A will that has not gone through the probate process. |
| Unsolemn will | A will where an executor has not been named. |
| Valid | Legal and binding. |
| Vestry | The ruling body of a church. |
| Video | A recording showing movement over time. |
| Virgo | Unmarried woman. |
| Vital Statistics | Facts about something of interest such as births, deaths, and marriages. |
| Warranty deed | A guarantee that a seller has clear title of the land being sold. |
| White rent | Rent paid in silver. |
| Will | A document that shows the person’s wishes for property distribution and the care for minor children after death. |
| Witness | A person that was present at an event and can attest to it. |
| Writ of attachment | Court order seizing property to cover court costs for not appearing in court. |
| Writ of summons | Document starting a civil proceeding for damages resulting from a breach in contractual terms. It orders a person to appear in court. |
