Overview
ISO 10241-2:2012 - "Terminological entries in standards - Part 2: Adoption of standardized terminological entries" provides principles and practical guidance for introducing internationally standardized terminological entries into other cultural and linguistic environments. It focuses on how regional and national standardizing bodies adopt, align or supplement internationally standardized terms, definitions and concept systems while preserving technical equivalence and clarity.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Principles for adoption: General guidance on when and how to adopt standardized terminological entries and how to assess the degree of correspondence between international and local needs.
- Degrees of correspondence: Methods to evaluate full, partial or non-correspondence of concepts and terminological data when adopting entries.
- Concept alignment and harmonization: Guidance on aligning local concept systems with internationally standardized concept systems to reduce ambiguity and improve interoperability.
- Definitions and designations: Rules and recommendations for adopting internationally standardized definitions, wording of textual constituents, and selection/formation of designations (terms) in target languages.
- Non‑verbal representations: Consideration of diagrams, symbols or other non-verbal data that may be part of terminological entries.
- Terminological data model and presentation: Advice on adapting the terminological data model, presentation, layout conventions, lexicographical ordering and symbols to local standards while maintaining technical content.
- Normative status and documentation: How to indicate normative status of adopted entries and report specific provisions (Annex A provides a reporting template).
Keywords: ISO 10241-2, terminological entries, adoption, terminology standardization, concept harmonization, terminological data model.
Applications and who uses it
ISO 10241-2 is intended for:
- National and regional standardizing bodies adopting ISO or other international terminology into national standards.
- ISO/TCs, standards editors, terminologists and technical committees preparing terminology sections or terminology standards.
- Translators, lexicographers and terminology managers implementing terminological databases and ensuring consistent designation and definition across languages and cultures.
- Policy makers and conformity assessment stakeholders concerned with the WTO TBT Agreement and the avoidance of technical barriers to trade.
Practical uses include adopting international terms verbatim, adapting definitions to local linguistic norms, harmonizing overlapping concepts, and preparing additions or supplements to international terminological entries.
Related standards
- ISO 10241-1 (General requirements and presentation examples)
- ISO 704 (Terminology work - principles and methods)
- ISO 1087-1 (Vocabulary of terminology)
- ISO/IEC Guide 21-1 (Adoption of international standards)
- ISO 15188, ISO 860 (referenced terminology-related guidance)
Using ISO 10241-2 helps ensure consistent, interoperable terminology across standards and reduces ambiguity in multilingual or multicultural standardization contexts.