| Word | Definition & Example |
|---|---|
| culture n. |
The shared beliefs, customs, and behaviours of a group. "Culture shapes everything from food preferences to family structures." Collocations: popular culture, cultural identity |
| society n. |
An organised group of people sharing customs and laws. "Industrial societies replaced agricultural ones over the course of two centuries." Collocations: modern society, traditional society |
| community n. |
A group of people living in the same place or sharing common interests. "The community has maintained its language despite outside pressure." Collocations: local community, indigenous community |
| ritual n. |
A sequence of actions performed in a fixed order. "Coming-of-age rituals mark the transition from childhood to adulthood." Collocations: religious ritual, daily ritual |
| kinship n. |
Family relationships and the obligations they entail. "Anthropologists map kinship systems to understand a society's social structure." Collocations: kinship ties, kinship network |
| lineage n. |
A line of descent from an ancestor. "Many traditional societies trace lineage through the mother's side." Collocations: matrilineal lineage, patrilineal lineage |
| clan n. |
A group of people sharing a common ancestor. "The clan system organised political authority in early Scottish society." Collocations: clan leader, clan structure |
| custom n. |
A traditional way of behaving accepted by a community. "Local customs vary widely from one valley to the next." Collocations: social custom, ancient custom |
| tradition n. |
A long-established practice. "Oral tradition preserved knowledge across generations before writing existed." Collocations: oral tradition, family tradition |
| belief n. |
An idea accepted as true. "Religious beliefs shape ideas about the afterlife in most cultures." Collocations: religious belief, traditional belief |
| ethnography n. |
The descriptive study of a single culture. "Malinowski's ethnography of the Trobriand Islands set the modern standard." Collocations: classic ethnography, ethnographic study |
| fieldwork n. |
Direct observation in a community being studied. "Anthropologists typically spend a year or more in fieldwork before publishing." Collocations: long-term fieldwork, conduct fieldwork |
| informant n. |
A community member who provides information to a researcher. "Trusted informants help anthropologists interpret what they observe." Collocations: key informant |
| indigenous adj. |
Native to a particular place. "Indigenous peoples often hold detailed knowledge of local ecosystems." Collocations: indigenous peoples, indigenous knowledge |
| nomadic adj. |
Moving regularly rather than settling permanently. "Nomadic herders follow seasonal grazing patterns across the Mongolian steppe." Collocations: nomadic lifestyle |
| sedentary adj. |
Living in one place rather than moving. "Sedentary agriculture made larger settlements possible." Collocations: sedentary society, sedentary lifestyle |
| agriculture n. |
The cultivation of plants and animals for food. "Agriculture transformed human society about 12,000 years ago." Collocations: subsistence agriculture, large-scale agriculture |
| hunter-gatherer n. |
A person whose food comes from hunting and foraging. "Hunter-gatherer societies typically have less material inequality than agricultural ones." Collocations: hunter-gatherer band |
| language family n. |
A group of related languages descended from a common ancestor. "Languages of the Indo-European family span from Iceland to Bangladesh." Collocations: Indo-European language family |
| taboo n. |
A behaviour or topic forbidden by social custom. "Eating taboos vary widely across cultures — pork in some, beef in others." Collocations: social taboo, breaking a taboo |
| myth n. |
A traditional story explaining natural phenomena or origins. "Origin myths often follow strikingly similar structural patterns across cultures." Collocations: creation myth, origin myth |
| adapt v. |
To change in response to new conditions. "Inuit communities have adapted to one of the harshest environments on Earth." Collocations: adapt to conditions |
| assimilate v. |
To absorb and integrate into the dominant culture. "First-generation immigrants typically assimilate more slowly than their children." Collocations: assimilate into society |
| interpret v. |
To explain the meaning of something. "Ethnographers interpret behaviour within its full cultural context." Collocations: interpret findings, interpret behaviour |
| preserve v. |
To maintain something in its original state. "Many indigenous communities work to preserve their languages." Collocations: preserve a tradition, preserve a language |
How this vocabulary appears on the TOEFL
Anthropology terms appear directly in passages and audio across Reading · Listening. The questions you'll see most frequently target this vocabulary are paraphrase identification (the test rewords a sentence using a synonym from this list), inference questions (you need the term's meaning to follow the argument), and reference questions (the term is the antecedent of a pronoun in another sentence). Knowing the term plus one or two natural collocations lets you decode passages faster and recognise paraphrases on the answer choices without re-reading.
How to study this list effectively
Don't try to memorise the whole list in one sitting. Effective vocabulary study works in three passes: (1) recognise — read each entry once until the word feels familiar; (2) retrieve — cover the definitions and try to recall each one from the word alone; (3) produce — write a sentence of your own that uses the word in a TOEFL context. Spaced repetition over 5–7 days will make the words stick far better than a single intensive review session. Pair this list with a practice test in the same section so you encounter the words in real test contexts.
Practise this vocabulary on real TOEFL tests
- Reading practice tests — passages on academic topics
- Listening practice tests — campus conversations and academic talks
- Full-length practice tests — vocabulary in context across all four sections
- More TOEFL vocabulary by topic