We built Termbot to explain industry jargon in plain language. But we’ve learned that writing good definitions is harder than it sounds — and the hardest part isn’t the research. It’s knowing when to stop pretending there’s a clean answer.
Some terms have precise, universally agreed-upon definitions. HIPAA is a specific US federal law. A basis point is exactly one hundredth of a percentage point. A bill of lading is a defined legal document. These are straightforward to define, and we can cite the authoritative source that pins the definition down.
But many of the most useful terms in business aren’t like that. They’re looser, more contextual, and used differently by different people in different situations. And a glossary that pretends otherwise isn’t helpful — it’s misleading.
When “it depends” is the honest answer
Take “equity.” On a balance sheet, equity is total assets minus total liabilities. Clear enough. But in a startup conversation, equity means ownership shares. In real estate, it’s property value minus mortgage balance. In corporate governance, it’s about shareholder rights. In a compensation discussion, “taking equity” means accepting stock options.
We could pick one definition and present it as the definition. That would be tidy. It would also be wrong for anyone who encounters the term in a different context. So instead, we cover the primary meaning, then flag the other uses. “It depends on context” is messy, but it’s accurate.
The same applies to terms like “provider,” which in healthcare covers individual doctors, nurse practitioners, hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and home health agencies. Or “deployment,” which means something different at a startup shipping code multiple times a day versus at an enterprise with monthly release cycles. Or “pipeline,” which means entirely different things to a salesperson, a data engineer, a recruiter, and a pharmaceutical company. The definition is the same within each field; the practice varies enormously across them.
How we research terms
Every term we publish goes through a consistent process:
Start with the authoritative source. For finance terms, that’s usually IFRS, FASB, or the SEC. For healthcare, it’s the WHO, CMS, or relevant regulatory bodies. For software, it’s official documentation or widely recognised technical references. For logistics, it’s industry bodies like the ICC or CSCMP. We link to these sources so readers can go deeper.
Check how it’s used in practice. The formal definition and the practical usage aren’t always the same. EBITDA has a standard formula, but how companies calculate and present it varies. Triage has clinical definitions, but it’s also used loosely in tech (“let’s triage these bugs”). We capture both the formal and the practical.
Flag where it means something else. If a term has a different meaning in another industry, we say so. This is one of the things we think makes Termbot different from single-industry glossaries. A finance glossary won’t tell you that “margin” also means something to a designer. We do, because our readers often work across fields.
Keep it short. If a definition needs more than a few paragraphs, it’s probably an article, not a glossary entry. Definitions should be scannable. The deeper context goes in articles like this one.
Here’s a concrete example. When we wrote the entry for prior authorisation, we started with CMS regulatory guidance for the formal definition. Then we read AMA advocacy documents that describe how prior auth works in practice — the phone calls, the fax machines, the delays. We checked health-tech company blogs for how the process is being automated. The published entry captures all three layers: what prior auth is, how it actually works, and why it’s controversial. The formal definition alone wouldn’t have been useful to someone starting a health-tech job.
What we don’t do
We don’t generate definitions with AI and publish them without editorial review. Language models are useful research tools, but they can confidently state things that are subtly wrong — close enough to pass a casual reading, but not precise enough for a reference people rely on. Every definition on Termbot is written and reviewed by a human editor.
We don’t copy definitions from other sources. If the WHO or FASB has a canonical definition, we’ll cite it — but we’ll also rewrite it in plain language, because canonical definitions are often written for practitioners, not for people encountering the term for the first time.
We don’t add terms just to have more pages. Each term is included because we believe someone is searching for it and struggling to find a clear, practical explanation. If a term has been well-explained elsewhere, we’re not going to add a worse version just to grow the glossary.
And we don’t pretend to be experts in every field. We’re writers and editors who are good at researching, synthesising, and explaining. When a term is at the edge of our knowledge, we say so and defer to the authoritative source.
The goal
We want Termbot to be the reference you reach for when you encounter a term in an unfamiliar field and want a straight answer — or an honest “it depends, and here’s why.” Not a dictionary. Not a textbook. Not a marketing glossary padded with SEO filler.
A plain-language reference that treats terminology as content worth getting right.
If we’ve gotten something wrong, or if a definition isn’t as clear as it should be, we’d like to know. That’s what the contact page is for.
This piece is part of our editorial series. For the reference itself, browse our industry glossaries or start with the finance, healthcare, software, or logistics terms.