Samsvörun

Samsvörun is an Icelandic noun that denotes the state or quality of being in accord, in agreement, or in correspondence between two or more things. It is used to describe how well elements align or reflect each other, spanning everyday language and technical contexts. The sense of samsvörun encompasses conformity to standards, semantic equivalence, and interoperability of systems or data.

In linguistics and translation studies, samsvörun refers to the degree to which a translation preserves meaning, function, and effect of the source text, aiming for a faithful or functionally equivalent rendering. In statistics and measurement, it can describe the level of agreement or concordance between raters or between different measurement methods, sometimes assessed with specialized statistics. In information technology and data management, samsvörun denotes compatibility and interoperability between formats, schemas, or systems, enabling smooth data exchange and integration. In philosophy and logic, the term is used more broadly to indicate correspondence between propositions, beliefs, or representations and the states of affairs they purport to describe.

Etymologically, samsvörun is built from sam- meaning “together” and svörun, a form related to “response” or “answer,” reflecting the idea of responses or states that match or align. Related Icelandic terms include samsvar and samræmi, which convey similar notions of agreement and coherence.