A term base (also known as a translation glossary) is a terminology database that stores approved terms and their translations. Storing terminology helps keep translations consistent within projects and ensures translators use correct designated terms.
Unlike translation memories (TM), which store full segments or phrases, term bases (TB) are concept-based (grouping terms by meaning) and focus on single words; a single term in a language can have one or more counterparts in other languages. The term base module can support multiple languages in a single term base.
When working in the translation editor, the system scans the source content and automatically suggests the correct translation for terms matching an entry in the assigned term base.
Using a term base is especially valuable in projects involving:
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Specialized or technical vocabulary
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Brand-specific language
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Terms that should remain untranslated
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Words with different meanings depending on the context
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Multiple translators or external vendors, where consistent terminology is critical
Explore best practices for using a term base.
Term Bases in Phrase TMS
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Term bases can be multilingual and can be assigned to multiple projects.
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Specified Linguists or Vendors may have unlimited editing rights for any term.
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Term bases can be accessed and edited by Guest users (clients) if such a role is available in the selected subscription plan.
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A maximum of 10 term bases can be assigned to project/language pair.
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Existing term bases can be imported or exported.
Term bases can be assigned to projects in the following modes:
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Read: Checks if terms are found in the source text, if so they are returned on the CAT pane of the editor.
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Write: Terms can be added and edited (with limits) by linguists during translation. New terms are not automatically applied to an entire translation project and would have to be manually updated (search and replace) to ensure translation accuracy.
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QA: As part of quality assurance, it is checked if terms with Approved status in the source have a corresponding term translation (New or Approved status) in the target.
Term Bases in Phrase Strings
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Advanced and Enterprise plan (Legacy)
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Terms are first added to a term base, the term base is then uploaded to Strings by file upload (.csv).
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Term bases can be assigned, as well as unassigned, to all or selected spaces and/or projects.
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Once a term base is assigned, matching terms from the term base will be highlighted in the source and target language of the translation editor
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Terms will only be suggested for strictly matching locales, i.e. regional variants of a language (en-US, es-MX, etc.).