terminographic

Terminographic refers to terminology work and, more broadly, to the discipline of terminography. Terminography is the practice of compiling, documenting, and managing the specialized terms and phrases used within particular domains. It differs from general lexicography by focusing on domain-specific vocabulary, consistency across texts, and accessibility for knowledge-sharing, translation, and information retrieval.

Core activities in terminography include extracting terms from texts, analyzing concepts, writing precise definitions, and establishing sense relations. Terminographic work also involves standardizing terms, normalizing spellings, and building structured resources such as glossaries, term banks, and controlled vocabularies. It often employs corpus data, metadata standards, and information architectures, and relies on collaboration among terminologists, subject matter experts, translators, and information professionals. Terminography uses tools like terminology databases, ontology models, and terminology markup frameworks to support indexing, retrieval, and interoperability.

Applications of terminographic work span translation and localization, knowledge organization, and information management across disciplines. It supports metadata tagging, indexing, and semantic search in libraries, databases, and digital repositories, and informs technical writing, product documentation, and regulatory compliance. Standards and guidelines commonly referenced in the field include ISO 704 and ISO 1087 for terminology work, ISO 12620 for terminology management, and related frameworks for terminology markup and exchange.

History and practice have evolved from simple word lists to sophisticated, computable terminologies and ontologies. Modern terminography addresses multilingual and cross-domain terminology, terminological harmonization, and dynamic term creation, balancing precision with usability to improve communication, data interoperation, and knowledge discovery.