Localization and Multilingual Content

Locale Terminology Glossary

Maintain approved local-language terms with definitions, grammatical behavior, context, prohibited alternatives, examples, evidence, and decision ownership.

Free editable Markdown · Terminologists, translators, and product teams · Updated July 30, 2026

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Glossary scope and rules

Product, subject, or collection: [Defined scope]
Source locale: [Language and locale]
Target locale: [Language, region, and script]
Primary audiences: [Who encounters these terms]
Glossary owner: [Person or team]
Language authority: [Qualified reviewer]
Subject authority: [Product or domain owner]
Status values: [Proposed, approved, deprecated, retired]
Review schedule: [Cadence and change triggers]
Distribution systems: [TMS, CMS, repository, design, support, or other]

Term entry

Concept ID: [Stable identifier]
Source term: [Preferred source label]
Source variants: [Aliases, abbreviations, or older names]
Concept definition: [What it means]
Exclusions: [What it does not mean]
Target approved term: [Preferred local form]
Part of speech: [Noun, verb, adjective, phrase, or other]
Grammar and inflection: [Gender/class, plural, case, agreement, or particles]
Capitalization and abbreviation: [Rules]
Valid variants and conditions: [Where each may appear]
Prohibited alternatives: [Form and reason]
Natural target example: [Complete sentence]
Interface or content context: [Screen, action, document, or user state]
Related and contrasting concepts: [Concept IDs]

Evidence and governance

Source of truth: [Specification, behavior, policy, or owner]
Language evidence: [Current corpus, research, or audience observation]
Requester and reason: [Who raised the need]
Decision record: [Options considered and rationale]
Linguistic approval: [Name and date]
Subject approval: [Name and date]
Status and effective version: [Enter]
Affected assets: [Strings, pages, media, metadata, memory, or training]
Migration instructions: [How to replace prior terms]
Next review trigger: [Date, product change, or feedback threshold]

Definition distinguishes this concept from close alternatives.
Example demonstrates natural local grammar.
Prohibited forms include reasons rather than preference alone.
Systems and owners received the approved update.

How to use this template

Identify a recurring concept with ambiguity, risk, or measurable inconsistency and assign a stable concept ID.
Define the source concept, exclusions, audience, product behavior, evidence, and contexts before choosing target wording.
Document approved target forms, grammar, examples, valid variants, prohibited alternatives, and reasons.
Obtain linguistic and subject approval, then distribute the decision to translation and content systems.
Monitor source or product changes, record usage feedback, and deprecate terms with an explicit migration path.

Start with concepts that cause real inconsistency

Prioritize product features, domain concepts, actions, roles, statuses, regulated expressions, and recurring phrases that translators could interpret in more than one way. Define the concept independently of the source label. Include what it is, what it is not, its relationship to nearby concepts, and the audience that encounters it. A single English word may represent several concepts, while one local concept may require different forms by context. Assign a stable concept ID so a source rename does not erase earlier decisions. Common dictionary words need entries only when your organization uses them in a controlled or unusual sense.

Make target entries usable in real sentences

Record the approved target term, part of speech, grammatical gender or class where relevant, inflected forms, countability, capitalization, abbreviation, pronunciation if useful, and any required particles or agreement. Add a natural example and the exact interface or document context. List alternatives to avoid with a reason such as wrong concept, outdated form, ambiguity, unwanted claim, or audience mismatch. “Do not use” without explanation invites the same debate later. Where different forms are valid, define the conditions instead of pretending that consistency requires one surface string everywhere.

Govern evidence, decisions, and change

Name the requester, language reviewer, subject owner, approver, decision date, and supporting evidence. Link screenshots, product behavior, corpus examples, research, policy, or customer-language observations when they informed the choice. Track proposed, approved, deprecated, and retired states. When a product change alters the concept, identify affected source strings, translations, help content, metadata, media, and translation-memory entries. Do not silently replace historical wording where users still encounter it. Schedule reviews for sensitive, fast-changing, or high-volume terms and preserve superseded entries with migration guidance.

See the fields in context

Fictional example: offline reading package

Atlas Lamp is an invented reading application, and its terminology is illustrative.

Concept: A temporary collection saved on one device for reading without a network connection; it is not a permanent backup.
Target decision: A qualified local reviewer selects a phrase meaning “saved for offline reading” rather than a shorter word associated with ownership.
Grammar note: The approved noun phrase changes form after a count, while the button uses a related verb construction.
Avoid: The local equivalent of “archive,” because the fictional product uses that term for a different permanent feature.
Governance: Product and language owners approve the entry, update three interface strings, and retain the old term as deprecated until existing help screenshots are replaced.

Frequently asked questions

Is a bilingual spreadsheet enough for a glossary?

Only for the simplest work. Without definitions, context, grammar, status, and ownership, the same source term may be applied to different concepts or used unnaturally.

Should every word have one approved translation?

No. Terms change form and meaning by sentence, audience, and product state. Govern concepts and define valid conditions for variants rather than enforcing false uniformity.

Who owns terminology decisions?

Language specialists should own natural target usage, while subject or product owners verify the underlying concept. A named governance owner coordinates the final record and distribution.

What should happen to a deprecated term?

Keep it searchable with its prior context, replacement, effective version, and migration instructions. Removing it immediately can hide why older content differs.