About the DIN-TERMinology Portal

The DIN-TERMinology Portal gives users access to the "DIN-TERM" terminology database which contains all terms defined in German Standards and which is maintained by DIN's terminology office "DIN-TERMKONZEPT".

The terms in the DIN-TERM database have been defined in German national standards, draft standards and specifications. Many have been taken from DIN Standards based on European and International Standards. All terms in the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV) – published as the IEC 60050 series of standards – are also included.

The terms are classified into subject groups, and are given in German, with English and French equivalents wherever available, and since June 2016 also in Polish, due to a cooperation with the Polish standards body PKN.

At present the database contains over 750,000 terms and definitions, 310,000 of which come from currently valid documents. The database is updated regularly as new documents are published and others are withdrawn, and as terms and definitions from more and more PKN Standards are added. Terms and definitions from withdrawn documents are identified as such.

Within DIN, the DIN-TERM database is used to support standards work: While drawing up new or revised standards, staff members search the database to see if a term and its definition have already been standardized. This helps avoid duplication of work and maintains the consistency of the standards collection. DIN-TERM is also a tool for giving standards committees an overview of existing standardized terminology in their fields, and helps to disseminate standardized terminologies.

The DIN-TERMinology Portal is also available to the general public for free – users register once to have access to all search functions. The portal will prove useful not only to standardizers, but also to technical writers, editors, translators, standards managers and officers in businesses, colleges and universities, scientific institutions, patent lawyers, engineers, and internationally active organizations.

The DIN-TERMinology Portal includes all terms and definitions standardized in German Standards, draft standards and DIN Specifications, and since June 2016 an increasing number of Polish terms and definitions standardized in Polish standards. Entries from withdrawn documents are also included and are indicated as such.