glossary

noun

glos·​sa·​ry ˈglä-sə-rē 

ˈglȯ-

plural glossaries

: a collection of textual glosses or of specialized terms with their meanings

glossarial

glä-ˈser-ē-əl 

glȯ-

adjective

Examples of glossary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many of them supplement the text with photographs, epigraphs, glossaries, family trees, sketches, timelines, variant tables of contents, alternating fonts and notes to the reader. — Christopher Coffman, The Conversation, 24 Aug. 2026

Regulations forced enterprises to spend massive amounts of capital and resources mapping out technical metadata, business glossaries, taxonomies, ontologies and data lineage. — Barney Krishnan, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

To lessen any confusion, here’s everything a beginner needs to know about observing the night sky with a manual telescope, and a glossary of telescope terms. — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 18 Aug. 2026

The narrative moves from the early days of the war to a glossary of Beiruti wartime phrases, then to Makdisi’s upbringing, and back to her memories of war and the people lost to it. — Literary Hub, 14 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English glosarie, borrowed from Medieval Latin glōsārium, glōssārium, from glōsa, glōssa gloss entry 3 + Latin -ārium -ary entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

glossary

noun

glos·​sa·​ry ˈgläs-(ə-)rē 

ˈglȯs-

plural glossaries

1

: a list of the hard or unusual words found in a book

2

: a dictionary of the special terms in a particular field