An Overview of the 50 Highest-Ranking Web Design and Development Glossaries

Published on Jan 7, 2025, filed under development, design. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon.)

Disclosure: I’m the author and publisher of The Web Development Glossary, an updated web development glossary ebook series, as well as the corresponding companion site, WebGlossary.info. That said, this article makes it easy to verify the information given.

When you’re searching for web development glossaries (as well as web design and software development glossaries), you find a surprisingly large number of options. “Surprising,” because web development is so massive, running a glossary is not a 10-minute stint. You can have someone work on this full-time.

To provide a missing overview of the web development glossary landscape (which goes beyond a friendly but casual list), I’ve collected the best-ranking glossaries, and added data on how comprehensive they are, whether they’re maintained, and whether there’s anything special to call out (all of which is also available as a Google spreadsheet):

Glossary	Number of entries (as of Dec 2024)?	Maintained (within the last year)?	Notes
Approachable Geek’s Terms You Need to Know	50	✗ no
Belov’s Web Development Glossary for Beginners	30	✗ no
Big Human Web Development Jargon Buster	35	✗ no
CareerFoundry Web Development Buzzwords	50	✗ no
Castus’s Glossary of Web Design Terminology	174	✗ no
Cloudogu’s Dictionary for IT and Software Development	36	somewhat
Clutch Software Development Glossary	88	✗ no
Clutch Web Development Glossary	75	✗ no
Coltness High School’s Software Development Glossary	113	✗ no
Coursera’s Front-End Development Terms	24	unclear
Coursera’s Software Engineering Definitions	23	unclear
Coursera’s Web Development Terms	32	unclear
DeepSource’s Glossary	58	✗ no
Design Brooklyn’s Glossary of Commonly Used Tech Terms	25	✗ no
Designveloper’s Web Design Terms	45	✓ yes
Digital Silk Web Development Terms	50	✗ no
Digital Silk Website Terminology	55	✗ no
Digitalfeet’s Web Development Glossary of Terms	98	unclear
DiviFlash’s Web Design Glossary	102	unclear
Edge of the Web’s Web Design Glossary	65	✗ no
Eric David Smith’s Glossary of Software Engineering Terms	100	✗ no
IMPACT Web Development Terms	42	✗ no
Itexus Glossary	169	unclear
MDN Web Docs Glossary	583	✓ yes	Community-driven
Numinix’s Web Development Glossary	218	✓ yes
Oneupweb Web Development Words	28	✗ no
Oregon State University’s Handbook of Software Engineering Methods Glossary	125	✗ no
Ramotion Web Development Terms	131	unclear
Sayenko Design’s Web Design Glossary	23	somewhat
Simplilearn Essential Glossary	244	unclear
Smashing Magazine’s Web Design Industry Jargon and Web Terms	97	✗ no
SolidWP’s Web Design Terms	65	✗ no
SpdLoad’s Software Development Glossary	110	unclear
Startechup’s Web Development Buzzwords	64	unclear
Taazaa’s Dictionary of Software Development	626	unclear
The Portal People Glossary of Web Development Terms	79	unclear
The University of Chicago’s Glossary of Web Terms	44	✗ no
The Webmaster’s Web Development Glossary	17	✗ no
Thomas Bonnet’s Web Development Glossary	23	✗ no
TRooInbound Web Design Glossary	108	unclear
Vrije Universiteit Brussel’s Software Engineering Terminology	173	✗ no
Wbcom’s Web Design Terminology	30	unclear
Webflow’s glossary of web design and Webflow terms	406	✓ yes
WebFX Web Design Glossary	16	somewhat
WebFX Web Development Terms and Glossary	72	✗ no
WebGlossary.info (The Web Development Glossary)	3,787	✓ yes	Also available as an ebook
WebWave’s Web Design Basic Vocabulary	54	✗ no
Whole Wale’s Website Developer Glossary	47	✗ no
Wired Impact’s Web Design Vocabulary	28	somewhat
Wovenware’s Glossary for Software Development	20	✗ no

These are the highest-ranking glossaries for web design, web development, and software development.

You may have some questions now: Why do a few companies—like Clutch, Coursera, and Digital Silk—maintain several glossaries, when these could so beneficially be merged? Why do so many agencies have a glossary? Why are most glossaries so short (cf. the sorted spreadsheet)? Why are few being maintained? That’s not something this overview answers. But it should give a better idea, of the web development glossary landscape.

If you believe our field is large, complex, and serious enough to keep investing in a comprehensive glossary, then support The Web Development Glossary and WebGlossary.info. For example, spread the word, purchase the (irregularly updated) book, report issues and make suggestions, or become a backer!

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies (e.g., Google); I’m an active web and tool developer (code optimization, digital defense), a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and a book author (O’Reilly, Frontend Dogma).

I love trying things—in web development and engineering management, but also in politics and philosophy, where I hold to one idea in particular: that we can only be well if we take good care of everyone. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my perspectives and experiences. (Interpret charitably but be critical—and share feedback and advice that makes my work better.)