How to build a translation glossary
The single most effective way to make translations consistent, whether a person or a machine does the translating.
Why terms drift
Most words have several acceptable translations. Left alone, a translator picks whichever fits the sentence in front of them, and a machine picks whichever is statistically likely. Across a 40-page help centre that means your “ticket” becomes three different Spanish words, and customers wonder whether they are three different things.
A glossary removes the choice for the terms that matter. It is not a dictionary of every word, only a short list of decisions.
What belongs in it
- Product and feature names, including the ones that must stay in English.
- Words with a trap: false friends and words with several meanings in your field.
- Defined terms from contracts or policies, which must match everywhere they appear.
- UI labels that help articles refer to, so instructions match the screen.
- The register: formal or informal “you”, decided once.
How to build one in an afternoon
- Collect your ten most-read pages and highlight nouns that are specific to your product or industry.
- For each, agree one translation per language with a native speaker who knows the field, and write down the reason.
- Record the terms you must never translate.
- Keep it in one shared place, and review it when you launch a new feature.
Example: English → Spanish, support software
| Source term | Always translate as | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ticket (support) | incidencia | Not "billete" (a travel ticket) or "entrada" (event ticket). |
| Workspace | Workspace | Product feature name; never translated. |
| sign in | iniciar sesión | Not "registrarse", which means sign up. |
| billing | facturación | Consistent across UI, emails and help centre. |
| you (customer) | usted | Register decision, recorded once for everyone. |
Use it in TranslatePro. Open the translator, press Glossary, and add each pair. Terms are highlighted in both columns, and any sentence where the source term appears but your translation does not is flagged with ⚑ so you can fix it before sending.
Export the bilingual .tsv after translating to keep a record your reviewer can open in any spreadsheet.
Questions people ask
What is a translation glossary?
A translation glossary (also called a termbase) is a list of source-language terms with the one approved translation for each. It keeps product names, legal definitions and industry jargon consistent across documents and translators.
How many terms should a glossary have?
Start small: the 20–50 terms that would cause real confusion if translated two different ways. A glossary nobody maintains is worse than a short accurate one.
Should brand names go in the glossary?
Yes, mapped to themselves if they must never be translated (for example "Pro Plan => Pro Plan"). Otherwise a translator or machine may helpfully translate "Pro Plan" into the local words for professional plan.
How does TranslatePro use my glossary?
Your terms are sent with each translation request as mandatory instructions. They are highlighted in both columns of the side-by-side view, and any segment where the source term appears but the required translation does not is flagged for review. The glossary is stored only in your browser.