Start from concepts, not isolated words
Record the source concept, definition or context before deciding preferred equivalents. One source term can legitimately require different translations in different products, jurisdictions or audiences.
TERMINOLOGY & REUSE
Make terminology an approved business asset, not a translator’s private memory
Recurring multilingual work becomes more consistent when terminology decisions are explicit, owned and reusable. A glossary is useful only when it records meaning, context, status and who can approve a change.
Designed for real-world use
Language, market and audience choices should be planned together for usable multilingual communication.
Five controls that keep approved terminology usable
A term base becomes operational only when concepts, status, context, ownership and propagation are controlled.
Give every important term a status
Preferred, allowed, deprecated and prohibited terms should not be mixed. Status prevents old or rejected wording from re-entering production.
Record context and ownership
A term without a domain or example can be misleading. Add product, department, jurisdiction, audience or document context and identify who approves changes.
Treat translation memory as evidence, not authority
Previous segments can accelerate work, but reuse must be checked against changed context, updated source text, terminology decisions and known legacy errors.
Plan propagation
Approved changes should reach translators, reviewers, localization teams and future projects; otherwise the glossary becomes a static spreadsheet rather than a governance tool.
Need to turn terminology into a working asset?
Share existing glossaries, disputed terms, approved translations and who has authority to approve changes.