TS ISO 704

TS ISO 704 is a standard that sets out the methodological foundation for terminology work and takes a concept-oriented approach. Rather than treating terms as isolated word lists, it focuses on the relationships between objects, concepts, definitions and designations, supporting consistent communication in scientific, technical, legal and administrative fields.

How concepts and terms are distinguished

In general technical practice, terminology work begins by organising subject knowledge at the concept level and then assigning suitable designations to those concepts. This approach helps reduce ambiguity, uncontrolled synonymy and inconsistent definitions. A central distinction in the standard’s subject matter is the one between the object itself, the concept used to represent it, the definition that explains it, and the term that names it.

General principles covered by this standard

• Basic principles and methods for preparing and compiling terminology both within and outside standardization
• General principles for writing definitions
• General principles for forming terms and proper names
• Applicability to scientific, technological, industrial, legal, administrative and other fields of knowledge
• No rules for the presentation of terminological entries in International Standards; that topic is addressed in ISO 10241-1 and ISO 10241-2

As a result, the document is not simply a glossary of field terms; it provides a common methodological framework for building terminology resources in a coherent and systematic way. In multilingual work in particular, alignment between the scope of a definition and the use of a term is essential for accurate transfer of meaning.