A dictionary is an alphabetical listing of words with their meanings, spellings, variant forms, pronunciation, and word origin. Dictionaries may be monolingual or multilingual.
A glossary is an alphabetical list of technical terms used within a specialized field of knowledge, accompanied by contextual definitions for each term.
Dictionaries
Description: "This dictionary decodes abbreviations and acronyms found in various publications including maps and websites. These abbreviations or acronyms, therefore, are not necessarily authoritative or standardized in format or content." From the Website.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries, Universities
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: University of California, Berkeley, Library
Description: An online dictionary to support the Department of Energy's Human Genome Project site, this resource provides succinct definitions of genetics terms. Basic genetics terms are covered, making this resource useful as a general reference for both human and non-human genetics studies. While not a thesaurus, this resource does provide "See" and "See also" hyperlinks to preferred terms and related terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Department of Energy, Human Genome Program
Description: From the site: “This dictionary defines terms used in the study of fishes (ichthyology in its widest sense). It includes terms not specific to that discipline but commonly used by it.”
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Canadian Museum of Nature
Description: This glossary from the Environmental Protection Agency 'defines in non-technical language the more commonly used environmental terms appearing in EPA publications, news releases, and other Agency documents available to the general public, students, the media, and Agency employees.' Includes abbreviations and acronyms. Browsable.
Resource Type: Journal Articles, Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: EPA
Description: The FAO Terminological (FAOTERM) database is a dictionary covering FAO's specialized subjects - agriculture, biology, forestry, fisheries, economics, statistics, nutrition – in a multilingual format.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Description: From the Web site: "This dictionary includes terms from GIS operations such as analysis, data management, and geocomputation; from rapidly evolving uses of GIS for modeling, GIScience, and Web-based GIS; and from the GIS foundation fields of cartography, spatial statistics, computer science, surveying, geodesy, and remote sensing. This online GIS Dictionary also includes ESRI software-specific terminology." In addition to term definitions, See and See Also relationships among terms are included.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: ESRI
Glossaries:
Description: Glossary of terms for aquatic, wetland and invasive plants.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: University of Florida, Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
Description: Glossary of bee and pollinator/pollination related terms and definitions.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: International Pollination Systems
Description: This web sites gives access to glossaries of botanical terms on the Internet.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Australian Government, Department of the Environment and Heritage
Description: This web glossary contains 1,181 English descriptive terms, their definitions, and in some cases, an image illustrating the definition. The French, German, and Spanish translations are also included.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Missouri Botanical Garden
Description: The Climate Change Glossary provides a wealth of terms culled from sources such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Action Network, BBC News, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: State of California, California Energy Commission
Description: From the site: "The basis for this glossary has been the compilation of the terms that are defined in the text of the Convention and in Resolutions. To this first set the Secretariat has added recurrent terms that have not been officially defined, such as ‘amendment proposal’. Users of this glossary should note that the definitions provided herewith may be specific to CITES and not valid in another context." Each entry provides a definition, with some hyperlinked cross-links; a "See-also" section that links to related terms or related Web pages and documentation; the source of the definitions; Spanish and French equivalents. Primary access to terms is provided in English only.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES)
Description: From the site: "The following [crustacean] glossary includes terms and their definitions taken verbatim from a variety of sources. In all cases, the reference is given in brackets [ ] following the definition. In cases where the same term is defined in slightly different ways, both definitions are given and both references are listed. If the definitions are identical, I have simply cited both references after the definition. The references also include the name of the group or groups of crustaceans with which that reference primarily deals."
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Description: The National Snow and Ice Data Center presents a glossary that contains general and scientific terms related to the cryosphere, Earth's frozen places. Pictures are included with some of the definitions.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Description: An online dictionary to support the Department of Energy's Human Genome Project site, this resource provides succinct definitions of genetics terms. Basic genetics terms are covered, making this resource useful as a general reference for both human and non-human genetics studies. While not a thesaurus, this resource does provide "See" and "See also" hyperlinks to preferred terms and related terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Department of Energy, Human Genome Program
Description: This page has a glossary of energy related terms and a energy conversion calculator link.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Department of Energy
Description: This site has a glossary of environmental terms and environmental related links.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Saint John's University, College of Saint Benedict
Description: This glossary from the Environmental Protection Agency 'defines in non-technical language the more commonly used environmental terms appearing in EPA publications, news releases, and other Agency documents available to the general public, students, the media, and Agency employees.' Includes abbreviations and acronyms. Browsable.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Description: Glossary of terms (beginning with letter A) for food uses of plants, trees, fruits, roots and seeds.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Minnesota State University, Department of Anthropology
Description: This is a brief glossary that the compiler uses in his Forest Genetics classes. Most of the definitions are fairly general and would apply to most organisms and applications, but a few are forest-genetics specific. The glossary is very much a work-in-progress.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York ( SUNY )
Description: This Extension Note provides a glossary of common forestry terms that will help in understanding some forest management concepts and in sharing ideas with forestry experts.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: PDF
Publisher: Land Owner Resource Center
Description: This glossary contains genetic terms from the Department of Energy Human Genome Project.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Department of Energy Office of Science, Genome Projects
Description: GeologyLink presents a comprehensive glossary of terms related to geology. The glossary is browsable by starting letter.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Description: From the site: "The primary objectives of this glossary are to serve as a reference to fish farmers, consultants, administrators, policy makers, developers, engineers, agriculturists, economists, environmentalists and anybody interested in aquaculture; and to facilitate communication among experts and scientists involved in aquaculture research and development."
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Description: This glossary includes meteorological terms in English and Russian related to arctic climatology and meteorology.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Snow and Ice Data Center
Description: Search this comprehensive glossary for terms found in biochemistry and molecular biology.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Portland Press
Description: As of July 2006, this terminology contains 3,196 terms and related definitions "associated with the rapidly expanding fields related to or deriving from biotechnology and genetic engineering" as applied to sustainable development of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, as well as the food industry.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Description: The glossary of cave and karst terms provides definitions related to caves, karst, spelunking, and karst hydrology.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: International Congress of Speleology
Description: This page has a glossary of climate change terms and related links.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Environmental Protection Agency
Description: Glossary of terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Description: This glossary presents terms related to crayfish.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Carnegie Museum of National History, Section of Invertebrate Zoology
Description: From the site: "This Glossary of Crop Science Terms was developed by a number of ad hoc committees of the Crop Science Society of America to provide a single glossary of terms for the various disciplines of crop science. "
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Crop Science Society of America
Description: From the publication: "As with any profession, forestry has its own vocabulary. This fact sheet is designed to help the reader better understand some of the terminology associated with woodland management."
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: PDF
Publisher: University of Maryland, Maryland Cooperative Extension
Description: This site provides the users with access to the online version of the Glossary of Forestry Terms from The State of Canada's Forests report.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Natural Resources Canada
Description: This glossary of terms was initiated as a project from a Northeastern Illinois University Earth Science class. It now contains a wealth of terms, all related to glaciers.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Northeastern Illinois University
Description: This page has a glossary of weather related terms with a concentration of hurricane and tropical cyclone related terminology.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Description: An A to Z listing of the terms you need to know when talking about the solar environment.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Space Weather Prediction Center
Description: From the site: "This glossary contains commonly used terms in [U.S.] oil and gas leasing and exploration activities. Many of these terms are interesting and unique to the drilling industry."
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation & Enforcement
Description: The purpose of the glossary is to provide a quick and easy reference to environmental programs related to the Great Lakes, including organizations, regulations, initiatives, terms, and even acronyms. The glossary is a work in progress, and is not comprehensive. It was developed primarily from the Minnesota perspective and, as of this printing, does not include all programs from other Great Lakes states or provinces. Section I contains an alphabetically arranged list of scientific terms, as well as state, federal, and international regulations, initiatives, and organizations. Section 2 contains acronyms and abbreviations with their most commonly used pronunciations and definitions.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Minnesota Sea Grant
Description: Glossary of Useful Herpetological Terms. Includes definitions for approximately 60 terms related to the study of reptiles and amphibians.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Geological Survey (USGS), Southeast Ecological Science Center
Description: The United States Geological Survey presents a glossary of volcano related terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Geological Survey
Description: The National Water Quality Monitoring Council provides a glossary of terms related to water quality
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Geological Survey
Description: This is a glossary of water resource terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: The Edwards Aquifer Website
Description: A glossary of water-related terms and water-related biological resources.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Ichthyology, Florida Museum of Natural History
Description: Website offers a list of definitions for various weather terms, especially related to drought.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: University of Georgia>
Description: A glossary is provided from The Fragile Fringe – A Guide for Teaching About Coastal Wetlands that covers 44 terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: LaCoast
Description: A general glossary of terms focused on carbon dioxide and climate issues, developed by the Distributed Active Archive Center of Oak Ridge National Laboratories.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Description: The Groundwater Foundation presents a glossary of groundwater related terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Groundwater Foundation
Description: This glossary defines terms related to ground water such as various aquifers, water hardness, porosity, permeability, and water table.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Geological Survey
Description: This glossary presents terms related to harmful algal blooms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Bigelow Laboratory
Description: This page has a glossary of hurricane related terms.
Resource Type: K-12 Curriculum and Lesson Plans, Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEACOOS)
Description: The site provides illustrations of various leaf shapes and their correct terminology.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: University of Florida
Description: This multilingual resource provides definitions for a multitude of hydrological terms. This link is directed to the English version.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Description: From the site: "This glossary defines only those terms that are relevant to fish larvae. There are illustrations for general body regions and standard measurements recorded in larval fish refer as well as for spines of the head."
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Australian Museum Online
Description: The site has a glossary of marine science related terms.
Resource Type: K-12 Curriculum and Lesson Plans, Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA and the U.S. Department of the Interior
Description: Glossary of biological terms used for molluscs.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: University of Washington
Description: This is a glossary of terms related to ocean mapping with topographic imaging.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Description: This resource is an online glossary that defines terms used within the NPDES permitting program.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Environmental Protection Agency
Description: This resource is an online glossary that defines terms associated with water quality assessments.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Geological Survey
Description: This glossary has ocean sensory related terms.
Resource Type: K-12 Curriculum and Lesson Plans, Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: University of South Florida; Institute for Marine Remote Sensing (IMaRS)
Description: From the site: "Physical Oceanography, like all sciences, has its own jargon or special terms. This glossary contains short definitions of the oceanographic jargon used to describe ocean surface currents on this website and in the cited books and papers."
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS)
Description: Glossary of terms for oil spill prevention and response. Includes acronyms for those agencies involved in the response effort.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: American Petroleum Institute
Description: A glossary of terms related to ocean and marine life.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation
Description: This glossary, provided by the National Geophysical Center, is comprised of terms related to the sun and earth.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Description: Definitions of terms, accompanied by references for the definitions are found on this site. Terms also include pronunciation keys available from clicking a speaker icon.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Cornell University
Description: The United States Geological Survey presents a glossary of paleontology terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Geological Survey
Description: The United States Permafrost Association presents a glossary of terms related to permafrost. The site notes: "Most of the definitions given below were taken from the Multi-Language Glossary of Permafrost and Related Ground-Ice Terms (van Everdingen, 1998). This source should be consulted for more extensive definitions. Updates, modifications, or new definitions are indicated by inclusion of additional references."
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Permafrost Association
Description: A glossary of plant anatomy terms grouped by anatomical structure.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: University of Rhode Island
Description: From the site: "The Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary is an evergreen, instant reference that takes up no space on your bookshelf. It also offers many special features and is: comprehensive (definitions for major oilfield activities), accessible (definitions for both the technical generalist and the expert, accurate definitions reviewed by technical experts), illustrated (high-quality, full-color photographs and illustrations clarify many definitions), thorough (citations of significant technical papers for further reading), versatile (streamlined navigation, enhanced search capability and key resource links), and interactive (on-line capabilities allow for continual expansion and updating based on reader input)."
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Schlumberger Limited
Description: This glossary presents terms related to Bony fish, sharks, and rays.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Description: A glossary of marine science terms.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: SouthEast U.S. Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System
Description: The STEPS consortium has developed problem-based modules to support the teaching of Statistics in Biology, Business, Geography and Psychology. The software is freely available to educational institutions, and can be downloaded from this Web site. The glossary includes explanations of data presentation, sampling, probability, random variables and probability distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, paired data, correlation and regression, experimental design, categorical data, nonparametric methods, and time-series data.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Statistical Education Through Problem Solving (STEP)
Description: This page contains definitions for terms related to fish, aquatic habitats, natural resource management, measurement, and water.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: StreamNet
Description: The Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms was created to help people without scientific backgrounds understand the terms and concepts used in genetic research.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: National Institutes of Health, National Human Genome Research Center
Description: The Water Quality Association provides a glossary of terms as a service "to members leaders in education, government, and industry." The glossary includes a search engine.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Water Quality Association
Description: “Compiled from a number of sources, [but] it should not be considered an 'official United States Geological Survey' water glossary." Links to other glossaries are provided.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Geological Survey
Description: Glossary of weather terms including over 800 weather-related terms, covering the environmental sciences.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Weather Channel
Description: From the Web site: "WebBeePop is a computer model developed at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, a part of the United States Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service located in Tucson, Arizona." This glossary contains terms relating to honey bees and apiculture, or honey production.
Resource Type: Thesauri, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) Agricultural Research Service ( ARS )
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
