Glossary · Information types

DITA glossary entry

Also known as: glossentry, glossary topic

In DITA, a glossary entry is a topic type that defines a single term: it contains the term, its definition and optional details such as acronyms, abbreviations, synonyms and usage notes. Glossary entries can be collected into glossaries and referenced by key from other topics.

DITA
Information typing

In one sentence

A DITA glossary entry is a topic that defines one term, with its definition, acronyms, synonyms and usage notes.

Example

The glossary entry for “component content management system” with the definition, the acronym “CCMS” and a usage note to spell the term out on first use.

How it applies

Technical documentation: Glossary entries hold one term each — the preferred term (<glossterm>), its definition (<glossdef>) and optional details in <glossBody> such as part of speech, usage notes, status and alternate forms (<glossAlt> with acronyms, abbreviations and synonyms).
Terminology management: Because each entry is its own topic, terms can be reviewed, translated and reused individually and referenced by key. With the abbreviated-form domain, <abbreviated-form keyref="gdpr"/> renders the full form on first use and the short form afterward.
AI and retrieval: Glossary entries are a ready-made terminology base for AI: preferred terms, synonyms and definitions can be exported to a controlled vocabulary or a SKOS concept scheme, and help a model use a company's terminology consistently.

Glossary entry vs. concept

A glossary entry defines a term in a sentence or two. A concept explains a subject at length. The two can be linked: the glossary entry gives the definition, the concept the explanation.

In DITA markup

<glossentry id="ccms">
  <glossterm>component content management system</glossterm>
  <glossdef>A system that manages content at the level of topics rather than documents.</glossdef>
  <glossBody>
    <glossAlt><glossAcronym>CCMS</glossAcronym></glossAlt>
  </glossBody>
</glossentry>