---
title: "Website translation glossary: the terms, in plain English"
description: "Plain definitions of the terms that come up when you translate a website, from locale and hreflang to translation memory, with links to go deeper."
url: "https://www.langrelay.com/glossary"
---

Glossary

# Website translation terms, in plain English

Plain definitions of the terms that come up when you translate a website, from locale and hreflang to translation memory, with links to go deeper.

- A
- B
- I
- L
- M
- N
- S
- T
- X

## A

[Accept-Language header](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/accept-language)

Accept-Language is the HTTP header a browser sends to list the languages its user prefers. Its syntax, q-values, what Googlebot sends, and why URLs beat it.

## B

[Back-translation](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/back-translation)

A back-translation turns a translation back into the source language, made without the original, to check it. Where it is used, its limits, and the alternative.

## I

[Internationalization (i18n)](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/internationalization)

Internationalization (i18n) is designing software and content so it can be localized easily later: what i18n covers, where the name comes from, and websites.

## L

[Language selector](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/language-selector)

A language selector is the control that lets a visitor switch a website to another language. What it should link to, how to label it, and LangRelay's own.

[Locale](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/locale)

A locale is a language plus the regional conventions that go with it, written as a tag such as de or de-AT. How locales differ from languages and how tags work.

## M

[Machine translation](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/machine-translation)

Machine translation is software that translates text without a person: rule-based, statistical, neural and LLM systems, and what a website needs from it.

## N

[Neural machine translation](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/neural-machine-translation)

Neural machine translation uses a neural network to translate whole sentences: encoder and decoder, attention, the Transformer, and how LLMs relate to it.

## S

[String translation](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/string-translation)

String translation covers the short texts a theme or plugin prints. How WordPress handles strings, and why a rendered-page translator needs no extra step.

## T

[Transcreation](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/transcreation)

Transcreation rewrites a line for a new market so it has the effect the original had, even if the words change. How it sits beside translation and localization.

[Translation management system](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/translation-management-system)

A translation management system runs translation work: content in, work routed, memory and terms applied, files out. What it does, and why LangRelay is not one.

[Translation memory](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/translation-memory)

A translation memory stores translated sentences for reuse. Exact and fuzzy matches, TMX files, how it differs from a glossary, and how LangRelay reuses text.

[Translation QA](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/translation-qa)

Translation QA is the checking a translation gets before it is used: linguistic review, automated checks and review on the page. What each one catches.

## X

[x-default](https://www.langrelay.com/glossary/x-default)

x-default is the hreflang value for the page to show when no language version matches a visitor. What Google says it is for, and where LangRelay points it.

## Start with one page.

Pick a language and a page. See how LangRelay handles changes, review, and SEO on your own site.

[Get started for free](https://app.langrelay.com/auth/sign-up)[Book a demo](https://www.langrelay.com/book-a-demo)

For WordPress, [install the plugin first](https://wordpress.org/plugins/langrelay/).