| AGUARDIENTE | Anise-flavored liquor made from sugar cane |
| ALCABALA | Sales tax established in colonial period |
| ALCALDE | Mayor or chief magistrate of town |
| ANTIOQUEÑO | Person from the city or region of Antioquia |
| AREPA | Corn-based pancake used in popular diets |
| BARRIO | Neighborhood |
| BOGOTANO | Resident of Bogotá |
| BOLIVARIANO | A supporter of Simón Bolívar |
| CACHACO | Nineteenth-century dandy or fop |
| CAJA DE AHORROS | Savings bank |
| CALEÑO | A resident of Cali |
| CASTA | Colonial label for racial group; racial division of society |
| CAUCANO | Person from the Cauca valley region |
| CAUDILLOS | Nineteenth-century political strongmen |
| COSTEÑO | Inhabitant of Atlantic coast region |
| DEJAD HACER | Laissez-faire, also referred to as dejar hacer |
| DIEZMO | 10 percent tithe on agricultural production |
| DRACONIANO | Member of the moderate wing of the Liberal party in the 1850s |
| DUEÑOS DE TALLER | Shopkeepers, master craftsmen |
| EJIDITARIOS | Persons who used community lands, or ejidos |
| EJIDOS | Community lands |
| EMPLEADO | Employee, usually in government or commercial positions |
| EMPLEOMANĹA | Critical term that describes tendency to seek government employment or to reward political supporters with governmental positions |
| FUEROS | Rights granted to religious, military, or other corporate bodies |
| GENTE DECENTE | “Decent folk”; described upper-middle- to upper-class person |
| GÓLGOTA | Member of the radical wing of Liberal party in the 1850s |
| GUACHES | Derisive term for lower class, early nineteenth century |
| HACENDADO | Owner of large landholding or hacienda |
| INDUSTRIAL | Small industrialist of early twentieth-century Bogotá |
| JEFE POLÍTICO | Political boss, appointed to manage local political affairs |
| LIGA | An alliance between political parties or their factions |
| LUNES DE LOS ZAPATEROS, EL | Cobbler’s Monday; St. Monday |
| MANOS MUERTAS | Properties willed to church |
| MESTIZO | Person of mixed indigenous and European descent |
| MINISTERIAL | 1830s political faction that identified with Márquez |
| MULATO | Person of mixed African and European descent |
| 9 DE ABRIL | Riots that followed assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948; also called the bogotazo |
| PLAZA DE BOLÍVAR | Central plaza in Bogotá; also called Plaza of the Constitution |
| PROGRESISTA | 1830s follower of Santander |
| PUEBLO | The “people”; used to describe the lower classes |
| QUINA | Cichona bark, used to make quinine |
| QUINQUENIO | Five-year regime of Rafael Reyes (1904–9) |
| RESQUARDOS | Corporate lands held by Indian communities |
| RUANA | Colombian woolen poncho |
| SABANA DE BOGOTÁ | Highland plain surrounding Bogotá |
| SANTANDERISTA | Supporter of Francisco de Paula Santander |
| SAPO, EL | “The Toad,” Ramón Gómez, political boss in 1860s Cundinamarca |
| SEMANA SANTA | Holy Week |
| 7 DE MARZO | March 7, 1849, date of the contentious selection of Liberal José Hilario López as president |
| 17 DE ABRIL | 1854 coup led by General José María Melo |
| SOCIEDAD DE ARTESANOS | Society of Artisans, founded 1847 |
| SOCIEDAD DEMOCRÁTICA | Democratic Society, successor to Society of Artisans; Bogotá chapter became model for Liberal political mobilization throughout the country |
| SOCIEDAD POPULAR | Popular Society, 1849–51; Conservative counterpart to the Democratic Society |
| SOCIEDAD UNIÓN DE ARTESANOS | Union Society of Artisans, 1866–68; highly articulate body that capsulized artisan reform period sentiments |
| SOCIEDAD UNIÓN DE INDUSTRIALES Y OBREROS | Union Society of Industrials and Workers |
| TALLER MODELO | Model Shop, established in 1880s under the regime of Rafael Núñez |
| 20 DE JULIO | July 20, Colombian Independence Day |
| VIOLENCIA, LA | The Violence, 1946–1953; period of savage partisan politics |