In both the popular media and academic literature, “terrorism” has no common‐sense meaning that distinguishes it from less heinous acts of politically‐motivated violence. This article develops separate definitions for political violence and terrorism, based on both an ethical and a pragmatic distinction‐the political accountability or political innocence of the victims. Because they focus on victims, either definition may apply to either revolutionary or state‐sponsored violence or terrorism. The definitions are tested by being applied to specific acts of violence, and to gray areas where the distinction between political violence and terrorism may be har