Multiple Vocabulary Facility (MVF) Terminologies Ontology
type: Ontology
abstract: The MVF ontology consists of three components: - a core ontology corresponding to the MVF metamodel, - an extension representing the subset of the ISO 1087 reference vocabulary used in other ISO standards for vocabulary representation, - an extension that incorporates additional vocabulary from ISO 1087 for terminology science. MVF also reuses several ontologies from the OMG Commons library for specific patterns, including designations, collections, and classifiers (this ontology).
contributor: Ed Barkmeyer, Thematix Partners LLC
contributor: Elisa Kendall, Thematix Partners LLC
license: Copyright (c) 2019-2025 Thematix Partners LLC Copyright (c) 2019-2025 agnos.ai U.K. Ltd Copyright (c) 2020-2025 Mayo Clinic Copyright (c) 2020-2025 Object Management Group, Inc. Copyright (c) 2022-2023 QuoteWell Insurance Services, LLC Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Adaptive Analytics, Inc. Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Coventry University Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Dassault Systemes Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Ontogenesis Solutions, LLC Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. See https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT.
imports: AnnotationVocabulary
imports: Classifiers
imports: Collections
imports: ContextualDesignators
imports: Designators
imports: Identifiers
imports: Locations
imports: Organizations
imports: QuantitiesAndUnits
imports: TextDatatype
imports: ISO1087-VocabularyForTermsAndDefinitions
imports: MultipleVocabularyFacility
version IRI: ISO1087-TerminologyScience
change note: The https://www.omg.org/spec/MVF/20230501/ISO1087-TerminologyScience.rdf version of the ontology was modified to integrate new constructs from Commons 1.3, eliminating the dependencies on LCC (MVF11-21), correct a label (MVF11-10), and add chronological and numeric ordering (MVF11-11).
scope note: Note that the set of ontologies provided for MVF do not provide exhaustive coverage of ISO 1087. We have not incorporated the terms related to data validation or natural language processing in the latest version of the standard, and certain classes under the heading of concept relation in the standard are handled as properties herein.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2019-2025 Thematix Partners LLC
copyright: Copyright (c) 2019-2025 agnos.ai U.K. Ltd
copyright: Copyright (c) 2020-2025 Mayo Clinic
copyright: Copyright (c) 2020-2025 Object Management Group, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2022-2023 QuoteWell Insurance Services, LLC
copyright: Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Adaptive Analytics, Inc.
copyright: Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Coventry University
copyright: Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Dassault Systemes
copyright: Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Ontogenesis Solutions, LLC

StructuredCollection
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasArrangement
  on class: macrostructure
  min qualified cardinality: 0
example: collection of artifacts, books, periodicals, artwork, terms, or other objects that form the core basis for a vocabulary, exhibit, library, or other organization

base list
type: Class
subclass of: terminology resource
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  some values from: Designation
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.5.7
definition: list of designations resulting from term extraction
note: A base list usually gives rise to further terminology work.

borrowing
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.4.32
definition: method for the formation of designations in which a designation is adopted from another natural language or another domain or subject

chronological order
type: Class
subclass of: systematic order
definition: systematic order in which the terminological entries, concepts or terms are arranged according to the sequence of time in which associated events, states, or entities occur or are valid
example: Examples include: - Legislative terms ordered by enactment date - Vocabulary entries sorted by date of adoption or revision - Clinical events sequenced by time of occurrence
explanatory note: A chronological ordering is based on temporal succession, such as calendar dates, time stamps, or historical periods. It reflects the actual or recorded timing of emergence, use, revision, or relevance. Such an ordering is frequently used in concept systems, terminologies, archival records, and historical datasets.
synonym: chronological ordering scheme

concept harmonization
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.5.4
definition: terminology work aimed at the establishment of a correspondence between two or more closely related or overlapping concepts to eliminate or reduce minor differences between them

conversion
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.4.39
definition: method for the formation of designations in which the syntactic category of an existing word or lexical unit is changed
example: The conversion of 'constant' as an adjective to 'constant' as a noun in the domain of mathematics; the conversion of 'output' as a noun to 'output' as a verb in the domain of economics.

data category
type: Class
subclass of: Classifier
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.6.3
definition: specification of a type of terminological data that is used for structuring terminological entries or terminology resources

derivation
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.4.38
definition: method for the formation of designations in which a designation is formed by adding one or more morphological elements to a word or lexical unit
example: Terms formed by derivation: 'printer' (print | -er), 'disassembly' (assemble | dis- | -y), 'hormonal' (hormon | -al).

glossary
type: Class
subclass of: terminological dictionary
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.6
definition: terminological dictionary that contains designations from one or more domains or subjects together with equivalents in one or more natural languages
note: In English common language usage, glossary can refer to a monolingual list of designations and definitions in a domain or subject.

language-specific order
type: Class
subclass of: macrostructure
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.12
definition: macrostructure in which the terminological entries reflect the ordering conventions specific to a given natural language or script
note: Alphabetical order in a monolingual terminology resource.

loan translation
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.4.35
definition: method for the formation of designations in which the elements of a designation in another natural language are translated literally into the recipient language
example: Loan translations in English are 'flea market' (from French marché aux puces), 'loan translation' (from German Lehnübersetzung).
synonym: calque translation

macrostructure
type: Class
subclass of: Arrangement
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.8
definition: selection and arrangement of terminological entries in a collection

microstructure
type: Class
subclass of: Arrangement
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.9
definition: selection and arrangement of terminological data in each terminological entry of a collection

mixed order
type: Class
subclass of: macrostructure
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.13
definition: macrostructure which is a combination of systematic order, thematic order, and language-specific order
synonym: mixed arrangement

nomenclature
type: Class
subclass of: terminology
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasArrangement
  some values from: systematic order
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.7
definition: terminology structured systematically according to pre-established naming rules
example: International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature
note: Nomenclatures have been elaborated in various domains (3.1.4), such as biology, medicine, and chemistry.

numeric order
type: Class
subclass of: systematic order
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has ascending order
  min qualified cardinality: 0
  on data range: boolean
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has descending order
  min qualified cardinality: 0
  on data range: boolean
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has numeric order origin
  min qualified cardinality: 0
  on data range: decimal
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: has alphabetic order origin
  min qualified cardinality: 0
  on data range: string
definition: systematic order in which the terminological entries, concepts or terms are arranged according to ascending or descending numerical values assigned to them
example: Examples include: - ICD codes ordered numerically (e.g., A00, A01, A02…) - Versioned terms (e.g., DrugName v1.0, v2.0) - Enumerated lists (e.g., Level 1, Level 2, Level 3)
explanatory note: A numeric ordering is a kind of systematic ordering, with a couple of important attributes: (1) what the origin is - zero or one, typically, and (2) whether it is from low to high or high to low. It is typically based on quantitative values, such as numeric orderings of collections use positive integers, decimals, or coded numerals, but there could be other kinds of ordering that use, for example, alphabetical with numerals and/or distinctions by rank, such as A.1.1. It may reflect sequence, priority, versioning, or classification levels. Such an ordering is frequently used in nomenclatures, coded vocabularies, or enumerated lists to facilitate indexing, retrieval, or display.
synonym: numeric ordering scheme

systematic order
type: Class
subclass of: macrostructure
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.10
definition: macrostructure in which the terminological entries reflect the underlying concept system
synonym: systematic arrangement

term bank
type: Class
subclass of: terminology resource
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  some values from: terminological database
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.3
definition: collection of terminology databases including the organizational framework for recording, processing and disseminating terminological data
synonym: terminological data bank

term extraction
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: produces
  some values from: base list
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: produces
  some values from: terminological concordance
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: reflects
  some values from: text corpus
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.5.6
definition: terminology work that involves the identification and excerption of terminological data by searching through a text corpus
note: Term extraction is often supported by dedicated software tools.
note: Terminological data of primary interest are typically designations, definitions and contexts.

term formation
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.4.31
definition: terminology work aimed at creating new terms using one or more of a variety of methods
note: By analogy, 'term formation' can apply also to appellations, proper names and symbols.
note: Methods of term formation may among others include transdisciplinary borrowing, translingual borrowing, loan translation, transliteration, transcription, derivation, or conversion, the creation of abbreviations or blends.

term harmonization
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.5.5
definition: terminology work leading to the selection of designations for harmonized concepts either in different natural languages or within the same natural language

terminography
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.5.5
definition: terminology work aimed at creating and maintaining terminology resources

terminological concordance
type: Class
subclass of: terminology resource
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isApplicableIn
  on class: Context
  min qualified cardinality: 0
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  some values from: Designation
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: reflects
  some values from: text corpus
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.5.8
definition: list of designations extracted from a text corpus together with a context and a source reference

terminological database
type: Class
subclass of: StructuredCollection
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isManagedBy
  all values from: term bank
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  all values from: terminology resource
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.7.2
definition: database comprising a terminology resource
synonym: termbase

terminological dictionary
type: Class
subclass of: terminology resource
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  some values from: VocabularyEntry
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasArrangement
  some values from: macrostructure
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: uses
  some values from: SpecialLanguage
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.7.4
definition: terminology resource that is designed to be used as a reference work
abbreviation: LSP dictionary
synonym: special-language dictionary

terminologization
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: produces
  all values from: Term
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.4.30
definition: process by which a general language word or lexical unit is being used more and more as a term in a specific domain or subject

terminology
type: Class
subclass of: StructuredCollection
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isUsedBy
  on class: Class
    union of: Domain
    union of: Subject
  qualified cardinality: 1
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  some values from: Designation
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  some values from: MVFEntry
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.1.11
definition: set of designations and concepts belonging to one domain or subject

terminology planning
type: Class
subclass of: terminology work
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.5.3
definition: terminology work aimed at developing, improving, implementing and disseminating the terminology of a domain or subject
note: Terminology planning involves all aspects of terminology work and has among other objectives the objective of achieving vocabulary control through such normative documents as thesauri and terminology standards.

terminology processing
type: Class
subclass of: terminography
source: ISO 1087-1, paragraph 3.6.3
definition: part of terminography concerned with computer aspects of database creation, maintenance and extraction of terminology from texts

terminology resource
type: Class
subclass of: StructuredCollection
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: comprises
  on class: VocabularyEntry
  min qualified cardinality: 0
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.7.1
definition: collection of terminological entries
note: Terminology resources may be in paper or electronic format, e.g. paper dictionaries or glossaries, CDs, DVDs, databases or term banks.
abbreviation: TDC
synonym: terminological data collection

terminology science
type: Class
subclass of: Domain
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.1.12
definition: science studying terminologies, aspects of terminology work, the resulting terminology resources, and terminological data
synonym: terminology studies

terminology work
type: Class
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.5.1
definition: work concerned with the systematic collection, description, processing and presentation of concepts and their designations
note: Terminology work often aims at creating and maintaining terminology resources.
note: Terminology work often aims at terminology planning and can involve all of concept harmonization, term harmonization, and term formation.
synonym: terminology management

text corpus
type: Class
subclass of: StructuredCollection
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.6.4
definition: collection of natural language data
synonym: corpus

thematic order
type: Class
subclass of: macrostructure
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clause 3.7.11
definition: macrostructure in which the terminological entries are grouped in accordance with a relational theme
example: In a human resource vocabulary, one group of terminological entries relates to recruitment processes, while another group relates to employee assessment.
synonym: thematic arrangement

transdisciplinary borrowing
type: Class
subclass of: borrowing
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.4.33
definition: borrowing from another domain or subject
example: The term 'virus' was originally used in biology and later transferred to information technology.

translingual borrowing
type: Class
subclass of: borrowing
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.4.34
definition: borrowing from another natural language
example: An example of a direct borrowing into English is the French term 'calque'.

excerpts
type: ObjectProperty
definition: selects for quoting (from a passage), extracts

has alphabetic order origin
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: hasTextValue
definition: specifies the language-based origin for the ordering, particularly for alphabetically ordered elements with numerals and/or distinctions by rank

has ascending order
type: DatatypeProperty
range: boolean
definition: is arranged from smallest to largest numeric value (e.g., 1, 2, 3, …)

has descending order
type: DatatypeProperty
range: boolean
definition: is arranged from largest to smallest numeric value (e.g., 100, 99, 98, …)

has numeric order origin
type: DatatypeProperty
sub property of: hasNumericValue
definition: specifies the numeric origin for the ordering, typically zero or one

informs
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: characterizes
definition: gives character or essence to, communicates knowledge to

makes transparent
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: informs
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.4.40
definition: expresses one or more characteristics of
note: Designations in the relation of transparency are called 'transparent' designations or 'motivated' designations. Designations lacking transparency are called 'unmotivated' designations.

produces
type: ObjectProperty
sub property of: associates
definition: causes something to exist, makes something available, manufactures

reflects
type: ObjectProperty
definition: makes manifest or apparent, shows

studies
type: ObjectProperty
definition: application of the mental faculties to the acquisition of knowledge - such application in a particular field or to a specific subject - careful or extended consideration - a careful examination or analysis of a phenomenon, development, or question

Vocabulary
type: Class
subclass of: terminological dictionary
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isIdentifiedBy
  on class: GeographicRegionIdentifier
  min qualified cardinality: 0
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.7.5
note: A vocabulary is a terminological dictionary that contains designations and definitions from one or more domains or subjects.
note: A vocabulary may be monolingual, bilingual or multilingual. A vocabulary is a terminological dictionary that contains designations (vocabulary entries) and definitions from one or more specific subject fields.

VocabularyEntry
type: Class
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: hasArrangement
  on class: microstructure
  min qualified cardinality: 0
subclass of: Restriction
  on property: isApplicableIn
  on class: Subject
  min qualified cardinality: 0
source: ISO 1087 Terminology work and terminology science - Vocabulary, Second edition, 2019-09, clauses 3.6.2
note: A terminological entry prepared in accordance with the principles and methods given in ISO 704 follows the same structural principles whether it is monolingual or multilingual.
note: From a terminology perspective, a vocabulary entry is a collection of terminological data related to only one concept
explanatory note: Notes on vocabulary entries can be represented using the skos:note annotation or any of its subproperties or other annotations as appropriate.
synonym: terminological entry