What Is A Translation Glossary And Do You Need One?

The same word can mean different things depending on the industry and context. Take the word “pitch”: in marketing or sales-related industries, a pitch means a sales proposal, whereas a camping company would use this word to indicate the area for a tent to be set up. In music, a pitch is related to the quality of a sound in terms of “high” or “low”. In mountaineering, a pitch is a steep section of a route or the angle of ascent. In construction, “pitch” is referred to as height over run.

These differences become even more pronounced when a term is translated into other languages. This is when a translation glossary becomes essential as it ensures that all your company content has consistent terminology in all languages.

A lack of consistency may confuse clients, especially where product names and terminology are concerned. If you have multipile translators working on the same large project, inconsistency is likely to happen unless all translators use the same translation glossary.