Glossary Builder

Build a translation/terminology glossary so a product's key terms render consistently everywhere. Use when asked to create a glossary, a termbase, a do-not-translate list, or to keep terminology consistent across translators/locales. Produces a glossary — each source term with its approved translation per locale, part of speech, definition/context, and do-not-translate flags — ready for a CAT tool or style guide.

Glossary Builder Skill

Inconsistent terminology is the most visible localization failure — when "dashboard" is translated three ways across one product, it looks amateur and confuses users. A glossary (termbase) fixes the key terms once, so every translator and every locale uses the approved rendering. This skill builds it: extract the terms that matter, define them in context, and set the approved translation (or do-not-translate flag).

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• The source material / domain — product UI, docs, or a term list; and the field (so definitions are right).
• Target locale(s) — which languages need approved translations.
• Existing decisions — any brand terms, product names, or prior translations to lock in.
• Do-not-translate candidates — brand/product names, trademarks, code/API terms.

Output Format

Glossary: [product/domain]

A termbase table — one row per term:

Source term	Part of speech	Definition / context	Do-not-translate?	[Locale 1]	[Locale 2]
Dashboard	noun	the main metrics screen	no	仪表板	Tableau de bord
Acme Cloud	proper noun	product name	yes (keep verbatim)	Acme Cloud	Acme Cloud
sync (verb)	verb	to reconcile data both ways	no	同步	synchroniser

Guidance included:

• Definitions/context — so a translator knows which meaning (e.g. "ticket" = support case, not event admission), preventing the classic wrong-sense error.
• Do-not-translate list — brand/product names, trademarks, code identifiers, UI elements that must stay in English.
• Part of speech / forms — flag terms where the form matters (verb vs. noun "filter").
• Consistency notes — preferred vs. avoided synonyms in the source itself ("use 'sign in', not 'log in'").

Output note: structured for import into a CAT tool (Trados/memoQ/Crowdin) or to sit in the localization style guide. Mark any translation that needs native review as (draft — confirm).

Quality Checks

• Each term has a definition/context so translators pick the right sense
• Do-not-translate terms (brand, product, code) are clearly flagged
• An approved translation is given per target locale (or marked draft for review)
• Part of speech / ambiguous forms are disambiguated
• Source-side consistency (preferred synonyms) is noted
• Structured for a CAT tool / style-guide import

Anti-Patterns

• Do not list terms without context — "ticket" or "filter" with no definition guarantees wrong-sense translations
• Do not omit the do-not-translate flags — that's how brand/product names get mangled across locales
• Do not present machine translations as approved — mark them draft for native review
• Do not ignore source consistency — if the source mixes "sign in/log in," the glossary should pick one
• Do not forget part of speech — a term that's both noun and verb often needs two entries

Based On

Terminology-management practice — termbases, do-not-translate lists, context definitions, CAT-tool glossary structure.