Terminology of the Terminology
We know what we are talking about here...
"term", "denotation", "expression", "synonym", "homonym" – everything understood?
Even on the subject of terminology one is often talking at cross purposes. To get the subject going, one should first familiarise oneself with the jargon, with the "terminology of the terminology" so to speak.
Terminology
By "terminology" is meant the aggregate of all the terms and their denotations within a specific field.
Term
A "term" is the mental image, an idea, which we ourselves create of a real object. The term is not to be equated with specific names for this object, but rather represents a mental concept.
Definition
With a "definition" a term is expected to be described and circumscribed as uniquely as possible in order to prevent misunderstandings and misinterpretations. The definition should not be made up of mere synonyms of the term to be described, but rather paraphrase it appropriately.
Designation
This mental concept is expressed by means of a "designation". It does not have to be categorically linguistic in nature, but can have other forms of expression as well, e.g. a metaphor:
Denotation = Term
With a denotation (also called "term"), the mental concept is put into words, the object gets a name. There can be several denotations for one term. Various foreign-language denotations can refer to a single term.
Example: Maus [rodent] – Mouse [device]
Synonym (same term)
Several denotations for one and the same term are referred to as "synonyms":
Example: postman – mail carrier
Homonym (same denotation)
If two denotations have the same wording, but refer to different terms, they are called "homonyms":
Example: quail (cower) – quail (bird)
If you want to deal with the terms of a terminology more intensively, you can find additional explanations in DIN standards 2330, 2331 and 2342.
