Abstract
Inclusion is often an (indirect) aim of terminology work. Terminology work can support access to knowledge for people who speak different languages. It contributes to developing lesser-used languages. It can enhance the accessibility and transferability of knowledge by representing conceptual relations. It can also promote specific communication strategies in organisations (RaDT 2020) when it aims at developing and disseminating inclusive terminology.
Inclusive terminology is “terminology perceived or likely to be perceived as unbiased and respectful by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, or any other characteristic” (IEC/ISO 2024:7). It focuses on terms that are unnecessarily gendered, carry prejudicial or exclusionary connotations or express dominance, violence or stigmatisation.
For example, "unmanned aerial vehicle" may be perceived as discriminating women, while "uncrewed aerial vehicle" is a more inclusive alternative. Terminology work in grammatical gender languages (e.g. French, German) faces the challenge of disseminating feminine and gender-neutral forms for job titles and roles designating women and non-binary individuals.
Additionally, users need guidance on which terms are acceptable (e.g. in Canada, "Indian" should be avoided when referring to Indigenous people, as it is considered offensive and outdated (GEDIT 2025)).
In this respect, the role of terminologists consists in:
1. Identifying non-inclusive terms (in texts and legacy terminological data)
2. Finding/proposing alternative terms (neology work)
3. Explaining when to use or avoid specific terms
4. Disseminating inclusive terms (e.g. marking them as preferred)
5. Checking whether preferred terminology is used in texts (quality assurance) and within language communities (terminology implantation studies)
6. Structuring databases to represent inclusive terminology (RaDT 2025, Ralli & Evers 2024)
7. Deciding how to represent non-inclusive, offensive terminology (e.g. racial slurs) making it findable when looking for alternatives but hidden from general view or provided with a warning (Reid & Rondeau 2025)
8. Staying up to date with changes in language and societal values
9. Acting as advisors within organisations
Our analyses are based on shared experiences doing multilingual terminology work for the Government of Canada’s terminology data bank TERMIUM Plus® (https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/) and the Information System for Legal Terminology bistro (https://bistro.eurac.edu/) in South Tyrol, Italy. Both terminological resources cater to the needs of the local public administration bodies and are freely available to the public.