Glossary reference

Glossaries help you keep translations consistent across repositories, teams, and languages.

Use this page as a reference when creating or maintaining glossaries in Localizeflow.

What is a glossary?

A glossary is a list of terms and their preferred translations.

Typical entries include:

• Product names and brand terms.
• UI labels and key feature names.
• Technical terms with specific meanings in your domain.

Glossaries help ensure that the same term is translated the same way across all your documentation and content.

When to use a glossary

Consider using a glossary when:

• Multiple people contribute to your documentation.
• You maintain several repositories for the same product or company.
• You have strict terminology requirements for legal, medical, or financial content.

Designing glossary terms

When adding terms:

• Use the exact form that appears in your source texts (for example, capitalization and spacing).
• Clarify in notes or descriptions when a term should not be translated (for example, product names).
• Add context sentences where helpful to show how the term is used.

For each target language, define the preferred translation or mark that the term should remain unchanged.

Keeping glossaries up to date

Treat your glossaries as living documents:

• Add new terms when you introduce new features or product names.
• Retire or update terms when products or messaging change.
• Review terms periodically with language owners or documentation leads.

Working with teams

When your team reviews translation pull requests:

• Encourage reviewers to check translations against your glossary.
• Update glossary entries based on review feedback when appropriate.

Clear ownership of glossary maintenance (for example, a docs lead or language owner) helps prevent confusion.