ISO 12620 Data Category Mapping

ISO 12620:1999 Annex A defines the canonical registry of data categories for terminology management — the vocabulary that TBX, TMX, and every modern terminology system uses. Glossarist’s data model implements the same grouping; this page maps each ISO 12620 subgroup to where it lives in Glossarist.

ISO 12620 organizes data categories into three major groups subdivided into ten subgroups. The mapping below follows that structure exactly.

A.1 — term

“A designation of a defined concept in a special language by a linguistic expression.”

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
term	`LocalizedConcept.designations[].designation`	One concept can carry many terms (preferred / admitted / deprecated); see Designations

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
term type (`A.2.1`)	`Designation.term_type`	Full enumeration in Term Types
part of speech (`A.2.2.x`)	`Designation.grammar.part_of_speech`
grammatical gender (`A.2.2.x`)	`Designation.grammar.gender`
grammatical number (`A.2.2.x`)	`Designation.grammar.number`
geographical usage (`A.2.2.x`)	`Designation.geographical_area`	ISO 3166 country code
pronunciation (`A.2.2.x`)	`Designation.pronunciation`	IPA notation
normative status (`A.2.2.x`)	`Designation.normative_status`	preferred / admitted / deprecated
administrative status (`A.2.2.x`)	`Designation.entry_status`
processibility (`A.2.2.x`)	(not modeled)	—
etymology (`A.2.2.x`)	(not modeled)	—
equivalency (`A.2.2.x`)	(use cross-dataset `related.ref`)	—

A.3 — equivalence

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
equivalence in another language	`localizations` map on `ManagedConcept`	One concept, one entry per language
cross-vocabulary equivalence	`ManagedConcept.related` with SKOS types	`exact_match`, `close_match`, `broad_match`, `narrow_match`, `related_match` — see Relationships — SKOS Alignment
false friend	`related: { type: false_friend }`
homograph	`related: { type: homograph }`
equivalent	`related: { type: equivalent }`	Within-vocabulary equivalence

Descriptive data categories

A.4 — subject field

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
subject field (`A.4.1`)	`ManagedConcept.domains`	Subject-area references rendered as `<domain>` in TBX
classification (`A.4.2`)	`ManagedConcept.tags`	Free-form organizational labels — see Concepts — Tags vs domains
dependent terminology (`A.4.3`)	(not modeled)	—

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
definition (`A.5.1`)	`LocalizedConcept.definition[]`	See Definitions for the four-type discriminator
context (`A.5.2`)	`LocalizedConcept.examples[]` with `kind: context`	ISO 704:2022 §6.6.2 contexts
definition type (`A.5.1.1`)	`DetailedDefinition.type`	`intensional` / `extensional` / `partitive` / `translated`
example (`A.5.3`)	`LocalizedConcept.examples[]`
explanation (`A.5.4`)	`LocalizedConcept.notes[]` with `kind: explanation`	ISO 704:2022 §6.6.4
encyclopaedic information (`A.5.5`)	`LocalizedConcept.notes[]` with `kind: encyclopaedic`	ISO 704:2022 §6.6.3

A.6 — concept relation

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
broader (`A.6.1`)	`related: { type: broader }`	Derives inverse `narrower`
narrower (`A.6.1`)	`related: { type: narrower }`
broader_generic / narrower_generic	`related: { type: broader_generic }`	ISO 25964 BTG/NTG
broader_partitive / narrower_partitive	`related: { type: broader_partitive }`	ISO 25964 BTP/NTP
broader_instantial / narrower_instantial	`related: { type: broader_instantial }`	ISO 25964 BTI/NTI
sequential (`A.6.x`)	`related: { type: sequentially_related }`
associative (other)	`related: { type: see \| compare \| related_concept \| ... }`	Full 52-type enumeration in Relationships
n-ary generic rake	`GenericHyperedge` (per-file at `relations/<id>/`)	ISO 704:2022 §5.5.4.2.1 — see Generic Relations
n-ary partitive rake	`PartitiveHyperedge` (per-file at `relations/<id>/`)	ISO 704:2022 §5.5.4.3 — see Partitive Relations

ISO 12620:1999 only modeled binary concept relations. The n-ary rake category was added in Glossarist v3.2+ following ISO 704:2022’s rake notation.

A.7 — conceptual structures

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
concept system (`A.7.1`)	implicit in the `domains` + relations graph
concept system type	inferred from relation types	ISO 704:2022 §5.6.3 — see Concept System Types
monodimensional / multidimensional	inferred from criterion count	Multiple `*Hyperedge` files on same comprehensive → multidimensional
monohierarchical / polyhierarchical	inferred from graph	Cross-dataset `related` edges can produce polyhierarchy

A.8 — note

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
note (`A.8.1`)	`LocalizedConcept.notes[]`
note (on term)	`Designation.notes[]`
note (on definition)	`DetailedDefinition.notes[]`
annotation	`LocalizedConcept.annotations[]`	Distinct from `notes` — editorial vs reader-facing

Administrative data categories

A.9 — documentary language

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
documentary language	`ManagedConcept.tags`	Free-form labels for grouping/filtering in publication workflows
thesaurus class	`tags: [thesaurus-X]`	Convention-based

A.10 — administrative information

ISO 12620	Glossarist	Notes
origination (`A.10.1`)	`ConceptSource` with `type: original`	See Sources
origination date	`ConceptSource.date`
modification (`A.10.2`)	`ConceptSource` with `type: modification`
modification date	`ConceptSource.date`
confirmation (`A.10.3`)	`ConceptSource` with `type: confirmation`
source (`A.10.4`)	`ConceptSource` with `type: authoritative \| lineage`
status (`A.10.5`)	`ManagedConcept.status` (concept-level) + `LocalizedConcept.entry_status` (per-language)
`valid` / `retired` / `superseded`	`conceptStatus` taxonomy
subjection (`A.10.6`)	`ManagedConcept.dates[]`	Governance events with type, date, source
entry identifier	`ManagedConcept.identifier` (also `termid` in YAML)
external database reference (`A.10.7`)	`ManagedConcept.uri`	URN-based

Annex B — bibliographic data categories

ISO 12620 Annex B (informative) lists bibliographic data categories derived from ISO 12083. Glossarist models these via the ConceptSource entity — see Sources. The bibliographic round-trip is:

ISO 12620 / ISO 12083	Glossarist
`<citation>`	`ConceptSource.origin.ref`
`<title>`	`ConceptSource.origin.title`
`<author>`	`ConceptSource.origin.author`
`<date>`	`ConceptSource.date`
`<pages>`	`ConceptSource.origin.locality.reference_from/to`
`<type>`	`ConceptSource.type` (authoritative / lineage / modification / …)

Term-type enumeration (the most direct ISO 12620 ↔ Glossarist mapping)

Glossarist’s term_type enumeration on Designation directly implements ISO 12620 §A.2.1. The full enumeration with definitions is on Term Types. Highlights:

ISO 12620 §A.2.1.x	`term_type` value
A.2.1.1 main entry term	`entry_term`
A.2.1.2 full form	`full_form`
A.2.1.3 abbreviation	`abbreviation`
A.2.1.4 acronym	`acronym`
A.2.1.5 initialism	`initialism`
A.2.1.6 clipped term	`clipped_term`
A.2.1.7 short form	`short_form`
A.2.1.8 variant	`variant`
A.2.1.9 transliterated form	`transliterated_form`
A.2.1.10 transcribed form	`transcribed_form`
A.2.1.11 symbol	`symbol`
A.2.1.12 formula	`formula`
A.2.1.13 equation	`equation`
A.2.1.20 international scientific term	`international_scientific_term`
A.2.1.21 common name	`common_name`
A.2.1.22 scientific name	`scientific_name`
A.2.1.25 phraseological unit	`phraseological_unit`

What Glossarist adds beyond ISO 12620

ISO 12620:1999 is a comprehensive registry but predates several things Glossarist now models:

n-ary rakes as first-class entities (ISO 704:2022 §5.5.4 rakes) — ISO 12620 only modeled binary relations
Per-file relation storage at relations/<id>/<slug>.yaml — ISO 12620 is storage-format-agnostic
ExternalConcept + provided_by for cross-dataset placeholders — ISO 12620 has no equivalent
Delimiting characteristic as structured data on GenericMember — ISO 12620 has no equivalent
Multiple definition types on a single concept (intensional + partitive + translated) — ISO 12620 expects one definition per language

These additions are documented on the relevant model pages and don’t break ISO 12620 interchange — they round-trip into the “concept-related description” or “concept relation” subgroups.