DefaultFontProperties is a global option that specifies various properties of a font family, such as its character encoding and whether it is monospaced.
DefaultFormatType is an option for cells that specifies the format used for displaying expressions in a newly created cell.
$ConfiguredKernels is the default list of kernels that are configured to be launched for parallel computing.
DefaultInlineFormatType is an option for cells that specifies the format used for displaying expressions in a newly created inline cell.
Mathematica allows arbitrary hierachical namespaces. However, several standard "contexts" are conventionally used for predefined purposes.
BaseStyle is an option for formatting and related constructs that specifies the base style to use for them.
$Assumptions is the default setting for the Assumptions option used in such functions as Simplify, Refine, and Integrate.
Inherited represents an option value to be inherited from an enclosing style, cell, or notebook.
SetOptions[s, name_1 -> value_1, name_2 -> value_2, ...] sets the specified default options for a symbol s. SetOptions[stream, ...] or SetOptions["name", ...] sets options ...
Pattern
(Built-in Mathematica Symbol) s : obj represents the pattern object obj, assigned the name s.