Long-time genealogists may forget that they were once beginners, and learning the terms, abbreviations, charts, and methods associated with genealogy was a lot like learning a foreign language. This column is the first of a two-part "glossary" of terms that all genealogists should know. It's not all-inclusive; for terms with multiple definitions, only the definition relevant to genealogy is given. Until you become familiar with the "alphabet soup" of genealogical terms, don't be discouraged if you can't tell if your coming (immigrating), or going (emigrating).

• abstract: a summary of important points (as in a deed, will, or title).
• administrator: a person appointed by the court to settle the estate of a person who died without a will, of a minor, or of a mentally incompetent person. (Also see executor or guardian.)
• ahnentafel: A German wording meaning "ancestor table," this term is a way of numbering the ancestors of a given person. The initial person is given the number 1. The father is 2, the mother is 3. To find the father of any person, double that number. To find the mother, double the number, plus 1.
• a.k.a.: abb. for also known as; an alias.
• ancestor: person from whom you are descended in a direct line.
• ancestor chart (often referred to as a pedigree chart): chart showing your direct line of ancestors.
• ante: Latin prefix for before.
• archives: documents or records of a government or organization; a place where such records or documents are kept. A reference to the Archives" usually means the National Archives in Washington, DC or any of its field branches.
• arms: heraldic insignia or markings on armor (as in a coat of arms). These arms are hereditary; just because someone with your surname once had a coat of arms, does not mean that you, or everyone with your surname, is entitled to use those arms.
• ascendant: ancestor.
• atlas: bound collection of maps and charts.
• aunt: sister of one's father or mother.
• autobiography: an account of a person's life written by the person
• b.: abbreviation for born.
• bachelor: an unmarried man.
• bastard: a child born out of wedlock.
• b.d.: abbreviation for birth date.
• bequeath: to give personal property by means of a will. Property given in this manner is called a bequest.
• bibliography: a list of books about a particular subject, person, area, etc.
• biography: a written account of a person's life.
• bound: under obligation to serve another in return for payment, passage, or instruction in a trade.
• bounty land: land designated as payment for military service.
• bounty land warrant (BLW): the right to obtain bounty land.
• b.p.: abbreviation for "birthplace."
• brother: a male having the same parents as another sibling; a male in the community; a male in a religious order.
• brother-in-law: husband of a person's spouse.
• c., ca.: abb. for circa. See circa.
• cenotaph: monument erected to one who is buried somewhere else.
• census: official enumeration, listing, or counting of persons. The Federal Census is taken every ten year. There have also been state censuses in some states, which may have been taken every five to ten years.
• Christian name: a person's first name given at birth or baptism; same as given name.
• chronology: arrangement of time and events in periods (usually from earliest to latest).
• circa: about; approximately. Usually used in front of a date or year.
• collateral: relatives descended from the same stock, but in a different line (aunts and uncles, cousins, those not in your direct line).
• common ancestor: one shared by any two people.
• consanguinity: relationship by blood.
• consort: usually a wife whose husband is living.
• cousin: relative descended from a common ancestor, but not a brother or sister.
• C.S.A.: abbreviation for Confederate States of America, the Southern states that seceded from the United States before the Civil War.
• d.: abbreviation for died.
• daughter: a female child.
• daughter-in-law: wife of one's son.
• deed: transfer of ownership of property.
• descendant: one who is descended from a specific ancestor. (Your ancestors are those in your direct line who came before you; your descendants are those in your direct line who will come after you, such as children, grandchildren, etc.)
• direct line: descent from an ancestor through succeeding children.
• ditto: abbreviated do, d, or ": means same as what was written before. (The census says John Doe was born in England. His wife Mary was also born in England. Instead of writing "England" again for Mary's birthplace, the census taker may have used "ditto" or one of its abbreviations.)
• div.: abbreviation for divorced.
• emigrant: one who emigrates from, or leaves, a country or region to settle in another.
• entail: to limit the owner's inheritance to their lineal descendants or to a particular class.
• enumerate: to count, as in a census.
• estate: the property and debts of a deceased person.
• et al: Latin term for and others. Found often in court documents.
• executor: a person named in the deceased's will to settle an estate.
• extant: still in existence. (Courthouse records lost in a fire are no longer extant.
• family group record: a chart recording the family unit - husband, wife, and their children.
• family history: history of a family in context of the places and times in which they lived.
• Family History Library (FHL): of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, has the world's largest collection of genealogical information. A system of family history centers provides more access to FHL resources. A list of centers is available from the FHL or at the LDS website at: http://www.lds.org/en/2_How_Do_I_Begin/4_Where_is.html
• father-in-law: father of a person's spouse.
• forebear: ancestor.
• Fort Wayne: referring to the well-known Historical Genealogy Collection at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
• fraternal: of a brother; group of persons having a common interest. (My sister and brother are fraternal twins, not identical ones, since they are of different sexes. The Elks are a fraternal organization.)
• Friends, Society of: Quakers.
• G.A.R.: Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans' group of Union soldiers.
• gazetteer: geographical dictionary or index listing or describing towns and places.
• Genealogical Society of Utah: based in Salt Lake City, Utah, to gather records which help trace ancestry. The business arm of the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it acquires and microfilms records.
• genealogy: (not geology, a study of rocks, and not geneology); study of the origin and descent of families.
• given name: one's first name given at birth or baptism.
• grandfather: the father of one's father or mother.
• grandmother: the mother of one's father or mother.
• grantee: one who buys property or receives a grant.
• grantor:one who sells property or makes a grant.
• great-aunt: the sister of one's grandfather or grandmother.
• great-uncle: the brother of one's grandfather or grandmother.
• Gregorian calendar: "new style" calendar adopted in Britain and her colonies in 1752. Resulted in a practice known as "double-dating," which is too complicated to explain in a line or two. See Julian calendar.
• guardian: on appointed to care for and manage the affairs of a minor orphan or adult person incapable of managing his own affairs.
• GPAI: abbreviation for GENEALOGICAL PERIODICAL ANNUAL INDEX.
• half-brother; half-sister: relationship of two people having only one parent in common.
• heir: one who is entitled to inherit property or title of another.
• holographic will: a will handwritten by the testator.
• homestead: to obtain title to public land under the Homestead Act of 1862. This act allowed the head of a family to obtain title to 160 acres after clearing and improving it, and living on it for five years.
• Ia.: Iowa; old abbreviation for Indiana. Be aware of this on census records! Your ancestor's birthplace may not be where you think!
• ibid: in the same place. (Used in the footnotes to a book or paper.)
• illegitimate: born to a woman not married to the father.
• immigrant: one who moves into one country from another. (My great-grandfather was an emigrant from Poland and an immigrant to the United States.)
• instant: of this month. (Used often in correspondence, and abbreviated, such as "your letter of the 12th inst.")
• intestate: condition when one dies without leaving a will.
• inventory: detailed list of goods or materials, e.g., an inventory of an estate ("three horses, two saddles, one feather bed") or an inventory of a collection of records or documents in a library or archive.
• issue: offspring. "Dying without issue" means dying without giving birth to, or fathering, children.
• Julian calendar: "old-style" calendar, in effect in Britain and her colonies until about 1752. (See Gregorian calendar.)
• junior: the younger of two people with the same name. This term did not always denote father and son, or even blood relatives.
• late: now deceased.
• Latter-day Saints (LDS): members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the Mormons.
• legacy: a gift of property by will.
• lineage: descent in a line from an ancestor.
• m1: married first; used in charts and genealogies.
• m2: married second; used in charts and genealogies.
• maiden name: a woman's surname prior to marriage. See also surname.
• manuscript: previously a handwritten document; now, a typed or handwritten document (as compared to a published book).
• mark: a written substitute for a signature; used by an illiterate person.
• maternal: related through a person's mother.
• metes and bounds: a system for describing boundary lines and limits of a piece of land. Such descriptions refer to natural or artificial landmarks, such as trees, rivers, etc. This system was used to measure land before the introduction of the rectangular survey system in public-domain land states in 1785. See also state-land states.
• microfiche: a sheet of microfilm containing greatly reduced reproductions of documents and records.
• microfilm: a roll of film containing greatly reduced reproductions of documents and records.
• migrate: to move from one place to another.
• minor: a person who is not yet a legal adult.
• Mormons: another name for Latter-day Saints, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
• Mortality schedules: enumerations of those who died during the year prior to 1 June in 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 in every state.
• mother-in-law: the mother of a person's spouse.
• mug book: a slang term for a county history or a similar commemorative volume containing portraits and biographies of local persons.
• muster: to gather soldiers for military service. To "muster in" is to enlist; to "muster out" is to discharge.
• nd: an abbreviation for "no date" given.
• naturalization: the process of becoming a citizen of the United States.
• necrology: a list of recently deceased persons.
• ne (accent over the 'e'): indicates the original, former, or legal name of a man.
• nee (accent over the first 'e'): as born; precedes the maiden name of a married woman. Jane Smith married John Doe; she is Jane Doe, nee Smith.
• nephew: the son of a person's brother or sister.
• Newberry: The Newberry Library of Chicago, widely known for its genealogical collection.
• niece: the daughter of a person's brother or sister.
• obituary: a notice of a person's death, usually including a brief biographical sketch.
• orphan: a child who has lost both parents by death. (Occasionally a child who has lost only one parent is described as an orphan.)
• patent: land granted by a government to an individual: a document granting the land. Also, legal protection for an idea.
• paternal: related through a person's father.
• patronymics: a naming system whereby a person's surname is derived from the given name of his or her father. The surname changes with each generation. For example, "San-chez" means son of Sancho; Lars Johnson's son would have the surname, "Larson" - son of Lars. Lars Johnson literally meant "Lars, son of John."
• pedigree chart: a chart showing a person's line of direct ancestors.
• primary record: a record created at the time an event occurred.
• primogeniture: a system of inheritance by the eldest son.
• probate: originally, the proving of a will; now, describes the settling of an estate.
• progenitor: a directly related biological ancestor.
• proximo (from Latin): in the month after the present one.
• public domain land states: the thirty American states created from land acquired through purchase or in treaties following wars. All others are "state-land" states. See state-land states.
• rectangular survey system: the system of measuring land using a base line running east and west and a meridian line running north and south that intersect at right angles. From this point, townships were surveyed and, within them, sections. See metes and bounds.
• relict: a spouse surviving after the death of the other; usually used to refer to a widow.
• removed: moved; left.
• requiescat in pace (R.I.P.) [Latin]: rest in peace.
• SASE: abbreviation for a self-addressed, stamped envelope; usually a no. 10 business-size envelope with first-class postage.
• Secondary record: a record created or copied from other sources.
• senior: the elder of two persons. John Doe, Sr. and John Doe, Jr. may be used to show which is older (although the two may not necessarily be related at all).
• sibling: one of two or more children having common parents; a brother or a sister.
• sic [Latin]: thus; used to show that a misspelled word was transcribed as it appeared.
• sister: a female having the same parents as another sibling; a female in the community; a female in a religious order.
• sister-in-law: wife of a person's brother.
• s/o: abbreviation for "son of."
• social security death index (SSDI): a massive index containing vital information of over 66 million names (primarily Americans) whose deaths were reported by their families to the U.S. Social Security Administration. Most of the names in this database are from 1962 to the present, although some is from as early as 1937.
• son: a male child.
• son-in-law: the husband of a person's daughter.
• Soundex: a card index system prepared by the Works Progress Administration for the federal census enumerations. In it, names are arranged by letter and number codes according to the sounds of their consonants. Thus, even if a name is misspelled or spelled in an unexpected way, it can often be located in the Soundex index.
• source: a record or person that supplies information.
• spinster: a woman who has never married, especially an elderly woman; an old maid.
• spouse: a person's husband or wife as a result of legal matrimony.
• state-land states: the thirteen colonies and other states that retained control of public lands within their boundaries for which first-title had not been granted. See public-domain land states.
• stepchild: a child of a person's husband or wife by a previous marriage.
• stepfather (or stepmother): the husband (or wife) of a person's parent by a later marriage.
• stillborn: a child delivered deceased at birth.
• surname: The (last or family) name that a person bears in common with others in his or her family; as distinguished from a given or Christian name.
• testate: said of a person who died with a proper will.
• twp: an abbreviation for "township"; usually a division of land under the rectangular survey system measuring thirty-six square miles.
• uncle: brother of a person's mother or father.
• ux (uxor) [Latin]: wife.
• ultimo [from Latin]: last; usually used in letters-as "in your letter of the 13th ult."-the month immediately preceding.
• vital records: civil records of birth, marriage, and death.
• viz [from the Latin videlicet]: namely.
• widow (or widower): a woman (or man) whose spouse has died and who has not remarried.
• will: a legal declaration of a person's wishes regarding the disposition of his or her property or estate after death.
• WPA: Works Progress Administration (originally the Work Projects Administration); a federal program of the 1930s and early 1940s. WPA workers compiled guides to vital records under the Historical Records Survey.
• ye: you, your.

For more unfamiliar and obsolete genealogical, medical, and occupational terms, consult Maurine and Glen Harris' Ancestry's Concise Genealogical Dictionary (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1989).