TS ISO 1951

TS ISO 1951 addresses how dictionary entries are presented and represented. It covers monolingual and multilingual dictionaries, both general and specialised, and gives guidance for presenting entries in print and electronic formats. In practical terms, the standard is about making dictionary data structurally consistent so that the same entry can be handled coherently across different publishing media and use cases.

Formal structure behind the visible entry

In general technical terms, a dictionary entry may combine a headword, senses, labels, grammatical information, examples, collocations, and cross-references. The standard takes a formal, generic structure that is independent of the publishing medium and relates it to the entry presentation seen by publishers and users. The informative annexes illustrate that relationship, which is useful when the same lexicographical content must be printed, displayed digitally, exchanged between systems, or retrieved later without losing internal consistency.

Where the standard applies, and where it does not

The standard follows a lexicographical, lemma-oriented approach. That means it is concerned with the structure of dictionary entries rather than concept-oriented works. It explicitly does not deal with concept-oriented works as defined in ISO 704. This distinction matters because lexicographical organisation and conceptual terminology organisation serve different editorial and data-modeling purposes. For users and editors, TS ISO 1951 provides a common reference for producing, merging, comparing, extracting, exchanging, disseminating, and retrieving lexicographical data.