Glossary

The glossary is the shared meaning contract for the sites. It defines the terms we prefer, the definitions we rely on, and the bilingual equivalents that should stay consistent across pages, metadata, labels, and documentation.

Use the rendered glossary for lookup. Use this page to decide when and how a term becomes part of the system.

What belongs here#

Add a term when it changes how the site communicates or how contributors make decisions.

• Preferred terms used across more than one page
• Terms whose meaning is easy to blur
• English and French equivalents that need to stay aligned
• Accepted aliases, acronyms, and alternate spellings
• Terms that should not be translated
• Deprecated, avoided, or context-specific terms when the distinction prevents drift

Do not add every ordinary word. The glossary should reduce ambiguity, not become a maintenance tax.

Relationship to naming#

Naming conventions govern files, URLs, components, classes, data keys, and scripts. The glossary governs meaning in prose and interface language.

When the same word appears in both places, use the stricter rule:

• Code and URLs need stable, portable names.
• Prose and labels need clear, human-readable terms.
• Shared labels should match the glossary unless a component has a strong usability reason to use a shorter form.

Entry rules#

Each structured glossary entry should include:

• a stable key
• an English term
• a French term when a natural or official equivalent exists
• a short definition in both languages when the term appears in bilingual pages
• a kind, such as term or abbreviation
• a category
• aliases when readers may search for another form
• sources when a definition depends on an external standard or official terminology

Use Canadian or Quebec French terminology when writing French entries. Preserve official names, product names, protocol names, and code identifiers.

Aliases are alternate lookup labels, not separate canonical terms. Use them for acronyms, old labels, common spellings, or search phrases that should lead back to the preferred term.

Use abbreviation as the glossary kind for shortened forms. Explain whether the entry is an acronym or initialism inside the definition instead of creating separate filter categories.

Authoring rules#

Prefer the glossary term when a page needs consistency. Use the alias only when it reflects how the audience will search or recognize the topic.

Avoid inventing a translation inside a single page. If a term needs a French equivalent, add it to the glossary data first or leave the official term unchanged with enough context for the reader.

Use inline definitions sparingly. A definition should help at the moment of reading; it should not turn ordinary prose into a maze of tooltips.