Glossary of energy terms
Glossary of energy-specific terms in different languages
The EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) and the national energy regulatory authorities have, in cooperation with the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the EU, developed a multilingual database of energy-specific terminology.
Why?
Terminology is a cornerstone of technical communication: correct terminology is essential to getting the message across. To communicate clearly, all stakeholders (from experts to editors) need harmonised multilingual terminology more than ever. Expert vocabulary accounts for 30% to 60% of specialised documents.
What are the expected benefits?
- Normative: standardised energy-specific vocabulary in all official EU languages;
- Cost-effectiveness: research done only once and multiplied in all official EU languages; and
- Accuracy and consistency of the translation of energy terminology in EU legislation.
The multilingual glossary is available in the EU's terminology database, IATE, where it is freely accessible to everyone (subject-field experts, policymakers, authors, linguists, etc.).
Creating a multilingual database is on-going process. ACER hopes that the database will eventually be available in all official EU languages.