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

Published on January 7, 2025, filed under and (RSS feed for all categories).

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 âś— no
CareerFoundry Web Development Buzzwords 50 âś— 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 âś— no
Clutch Web Development Glossary 75 âś— 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 âś— no
Digital Silk Website Terminology 55 âś— 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 âś— no
Itexus Glossary 169 unclear
MDN Web Docs Glossary 583 âś“ yes Community-driven
Numinix’s Web Development Glossary 218 ✓ yes
Oneupweb Web Development Words 28 âś— 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 âś— no
WebGlossary.info (The Web Development Glossary) 3,787 âś“ 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!

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About Me

Jens Oliver Meiert, on November 9, 2024.

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a frontend engineering leader and tech author/publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead for companies like Google and as an engineering manager for companies like Miro, I’m a contributor to several web standards, and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development (and engineering management), but also in other areas like philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and views. (Please be critical, interpret charitably, and give feedback.)