City of the Damned city in which Prometheus and Gaea formerly resided, and from which they fled.

City Theater the large tent in which are performed plays for the social recreation of the workers. The plays are about the virtues of toil and the need to sacrifice oneself for one’s brothers.

The Box of Glass rudimentary form of an electric light that Equality 7-2521 has re-invented. Though he knows little about electricity, he recognizes that lightning is caused by the same force that generates the light.

Council of Eugenics state agency that governs all sexual activity and procreation. Its members determine who will sleep with whom, based on the best interest of the state, not the happiness of the men and women involved. If all vestiges of individuality and personal choice are to be expunged, then the Council must be certain that the sexual partners have no attachment to, or feelings for, each other.

Council of the Home the leaders of the particular barracks where a group of persons reside. Because this society supposedly has no individuals, all decisions are made by a sub-group that controls the larger group.

Council of Vocations the group of rulers whose specific function is to decide an individual’s occupation. By forcing the best young minds into manual labor, the leaders hope to quell any potential intellectual dissent to their regime.

Ego the self. That aspect of an individual that thinks, forms values, and makes judgments. Here it refers to the need that individuals have to be liberated of the stifling restraints of collectivism, free to use their own minds and glory in their own individual uniqueness.

Eugenics a system for improving the human species through control of hereditary factors in mating.

Gaea goddess of Greek mythology who gave birth to the earth and to the titans.

Golden One name that Equality 7-2521 gives in his own mind to Liberty 5-3000. He gives her this name not merely because her hair is as golden as the sun but also because the straightness of her carriage and the fearlessness of her eyes cause her to stand out, to shine forth from the other women.

Great Rebirth the period in which the Unmentionable Times end and the one Great Truth is taught. During this time, political freedom is wiped out and belief in living for one’s own happiness is eradicated. This is the beginning of the dictatorship in which humans must exist exclusively to serve their brothers and sisters.

Great Truth the belief that human beings are not individuals but mere fragments of the whole. This society has been indoctrinated with the view that individuality is unreal, that the human race is like an ant colony in which each person is not a single, separate whole but an appendage of a larger social unity.

Home of the Peasants place of residence for the women who toil in the fields outside of the city limits. Liberty 5-3000 lives here with the other women who engage in the work of farming.

Home of the Scholars the residence of intellectuals and scientists whose task is to gain knowledge and discover new truths

Home of the Useless where the elderly of this society are sent at 40 years of age. They are thought to be too worn with toil to be of further use to society. This society is so lacking in knowledge of nutrition, medicine and science that the life expectancy has shrunk back into the early 40s.

loadstone a strongly magnetized rock, especially one containing magnetite; something that attracts, as with magnetic force.

Palace of Corrective Detention the prison to which Equality 7-2521 is taken after he is discovered absent from the theater. The prison, as virtually everything in this backwards society, is delapidated, posing no difficulty to Equality 7-2521’s escape when the time is right.

Palace of Mating the building where the state-controlled breeding occurs. Sex is prohibited in this society except under the authority of the government, which permits it only for purposes of procreation.

Power of the Sky lightning that streaks the sky during thunderstorms. In fact, lightning is generated by a discharge of atmospheric electricity from one cloud to another or between a cloud and the earth. No one in this backwards society has an idea of the connection between lightning and electricity, or even of the existence of electricity as a force of nature.

Prometheus legendary titan of Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and brought it to earth. He was punished by Zeus, who chained him to a rock and had a vulture eat out his liver daily. But thereafter humans had fire to keep warm and to light the darkest night.

Pyre a pile on which a dead body is burned, as in a funeral rite.

Science of Things research into the phenomena of nature. This primitive society has only the most rudimentary of scientific knowledge, and it has. regressed into a second Dark Age in which most knowledge of freer periods has been lost. This society believes the earth is flat, the sun revolves around it, and bleeding is a method of curing ailments.

Script Fire brief interval initiating the Great Rebirth following the defeat of the Evil Ones during which all books and writings were burned.

Time of Mating the period each spring when the state sends all men older than 20 and all women older than 18 to spend one night in the Palace of Mating. Babies are born every winter but are immediately taken from their mothers and raised by the state. The children never know who their parents are, and the parents do not know who their children are.

The Transgression of Preference the “sin” of choice, which occurs when a person favors an activity or person based on independent judgment. Any exercise of independent evaluation is banned by this society.

Uncharted Forest heavily wooded area just outside the city and extends for many miles in distance. Many such unexplored forests range across the land and are believed to have grown over the ruins of the cities of the Unmentionable Times.

The Unconquered the secret name that the Golden One has given to Equality 7-2521 in the privacy of her own mind. She loves him because his straightness of spine and pride of bearing show that his soul has not been conquered by the state. His independence of spirit stands out in his demeanor, and the Golden One recognizes it.

Unmentionable Times the days of the past when humans still possessed individual rights and political freedom. The dictators regard those past days as evil, because humans were living for themselves, not for others. It is unlawful to speak of these days when individuals were free to pursue their own happiness.

Unspeakable Word the word “I,” outlawed in this society under threat of death. The political rulers, in seeking to forbid all aspects of individualism, recognize that it is not sufficient to ban the actions of a personal life, but must also eradicate all thoughts of one.

World Council a global government that rules the entire world. In this world of the future, individuals possess no rights. The World Council is the highest governing body, the ultimate set of rulers who dictate policy to the rest of the world.

World Council of Scholars the society of thinkers and scientists made up supposedly of the world’s greatest minds. But since the political rulers value only obedience, the best thinkers (like Equality 7-2521) are excluded, leaving the World Council filled with a group of unthinking conformists.