Definitions

First, a number of definitions from the field of term-oriented terminology work will be presented in order to facilitate the use of crossTerm. The definitions for crossTerm are based on ISO 1087 ("Terminology Work Vocabulary") and have been taken from DIN 2342 ("Concepts of Terminology Science") for the documentation.

The data categories in crossTerm are used in accordance with the international standard ISO 12620 ("Computer Applications in Terminology - Data Categories").

Terminology

Terminology is the total stock of concepts and the respective terms in a subject area.

Concept

A concept is a unit of thought constituted through abstraction on the basis of properties common to a set of objects.

Concepts are not bound to particular languages. They are, however, influenced by the social or cultural background.

Concept-oriented information includes definitions, illustrations, and information on a specialized field.

Term

A term is a designation consisting of one or more words.

Concepts are linguistically represented by terms (and definitions).

Distinction is made between single-word terms (including combined terms/compounds) and multi-word terms (for example, electronic control unit).

Term-oriented information includes such items as grammatical information (e.g. about part of speech or grammatical gender), context examples, etc.

Concept vs. Entry

Especially the fields of linguistics and terminology science use the expressions concept and term. In practical terminology work - and thus in Across and crossTerm - these two terms are opposed by expression entry (for "concept") and term (for "naming").

Synonym

A term that has the same meaning as another term and describes the same concept.

Homograph

A homograph is a term that is written exactly like another term but has a different meaning (and possibly origin) and designates a different concept (and is often pronounced differently).

Examples:

Invalid (not valid vs. sick) or

Bass (fish vs. musical instrument)