59 transport glossaries

Be it means of transport, car parts, acronyms of the trade, you will definitely find those terms you have been looking for. There is a description of each glossary which can serve as a guide.

Wikipedia – Wikipedia provides here a specialised list of terms that are used both within the American trucking industry and the freight industry in general. You can also read separate articles on each term just by clicking on the word and it will redirect you to its specific page.

YRC Freight – This website offers you a glossary specialising in freight terms arranged alphabetically, making it easier for you to get to a specific word.

The Geography of Transport Systems – This is a truly encompassing transport glossary, having compiled hundreds of definitions from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Union Pacific Railroad and Mineta Transportation Institute. It contains definitions of access points, equipments, means of transportation and technical terms used by and among specialised personnel.

Florida Department of Transportation – This is a transportation glossary of terms and acronyms used in transportation planning compiled by the Office of Transportation Planning. It’s 28 pages long and it’s fairly divided between common terminology and more technical, difficult terms.

Trade Port – Unlike the previous ones, this is a glossary specialising in trade and shipping terms. It contains mostly acronyms and it’s also alphabetically categorised.

American Multimodal International Deliveries – AMID Logistics puts at your disposal a glossary of international shipping terms containing both acronyms and specialised words with short definitions for each of them.

Estes – ESTES also offers you a transportation glossary for shipping terms and acronyms with clear and easy to understand definitions. They also put at your disposal a downloadable PDF version of their glossary.

Inbound Logistics – Inbound Logistics has created a glossary of supply chain terms, where you can find anything from transportation, supply chain, logistics and international trade terms.

Wikipedia – Wikipedia offers a very thorough list of rail transport terms, along with a multitude of pictures to make the definitions easier to understand.

U.S. Depatment of Transporation – This is a 114 page long downloadable glossary provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation, containing shipping terms and acronyms. The definitions are clear and comprehensible.

Eye for Transport – This website provides a comprehensive transportation glossary. Granted it is not larger than the previous glossaries, but you may find a few words that were not available on the other websites.

Chemlogix – Again a downloadable version of a logistics transportation glossary. It encompasses dozens of definitions of means of transportation and other industry-specific terminology.

The Local Government & Municipal Knowledge base – The next glossary by Wikidot provides a slightly smaller list of roads and transport terms. The main advantage of this glossary is that each key word leads to an individual page where you will find a more comprehensive description of it.

Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California – Irvine – Here we have a travel forecasting glossary from 2013 encompassing hundreds of industry-specific terms, acronyms and abbreviations.

Unipac Continental – Unipac Continental offers a vast list of shipping terms, acronyms and abbreviations all based on the international set of trade terms (INCOTERMS) to make it easier for the buyer and seller to understand their responsibilities and risks while the merchandise is in transit.

IGD – Here we have a glossary of terms and acronyms specific to the supply chain industry. This list is shorter and the definitions more synthesised and to the point.

Regional Transit – Next we have a very encompassing glossary of transit terms, which is also alphabetically arranged. They are all common terms used within the transit industry.

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) – FHWA provides a more compressed list of freight terms and acronyms.

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission – Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission offers you a glossary of freight terms made by the Federal Highway Administration consisting of the most common words used in the freight industry.

Wikipedia – Wikipedia offers here a glossary of steam locomotive components, along with a sketch to better exemplify the terms referenced.

International Union of Railways – The International Union of Railways has created a glossary explaining the most crucial terms used in their industry, so this would be a great resource for someone who has a translation project concerning this specific organisation.

Railway Technical Webpages – This next website provides quite a thorough list of the most common terms used in the railway industry and the good thing about it is that it also suggests other related pages of acronyms and abbreviations, a brakes glossary, a steam locomotive glossary, an electric traction page and also a US-UK terminology list where you can compare words that are being used in the two countries to describe the same thing along with their definitions.

Macmillan Dictionary – The Macmillan Dictionary has compiled for you a short list of terms describing parts of trains, trams and cable cars.

AllenRailRoad – AllenRailRoad has also created a glossary focused on railroad specific terms. It’s a vast one and worth taking a look at because there’s a good chance that you will find a few words that were not included in the previous ones.

Translation Directory – Again, a rail specific glossary, but this time provided by Translation Directory. It’s a great resource as it includes a multitude of pictures making it easier to understand the terms described and it also has the advantage of sending you directly to Wikipedia for certain terms that you might want to read more about, thus saving you the effort of opening up another page for every unknown word.

CSX – Another railroad specific glossary, alphabetically categorised.

Midcontinent – This next page describes itself as a railway car-builder’s dictionary, encompassing definitions of American railroad cars, their parts, attachments and details of their construction. Highly recommended resource. It’s very easy to scan through and it uses tons of pictures to help the readers familiarize themselves with the terminology.

Wikipedia – Again, Wikipedia comes to our aid with an excellent glossary of rail transport terms. This is quite an encompassing resource, so you’re bound to find everything you need related to this field right here.

Up – Compared to the previous one, this is a smaller glossary; however, you may find a few acronyms on this page that were not mentioned anywhere else.

Model Railroader Magazine – This is an alphabetically arranged glossary conceived by Model Railroader Magazine focusing on railroad terminology.

Wikipedia – Wikipedia has also compiled a list of nautical terms; however, it is well worth mentioning that a lot of the terms there date from the17th-19th centuries, so some words might not be current.

US Department of Transportation – Here we have a glossary of shipping terms put together by the U.S. Department of Transportation. It’s 114 pages long and it contains hundreds of useful definitions for whoever is interested in the shipping industry.

Midwest Connection – Again, a glossary of shipping terms alphabetically arranged, with clear and well referenced definitions.

Ports & Ships – For everyone wishing to understand what it is like to make a living from ports and ships or simply check out specific words from the maritime field, you can safely turn to this glossary for help where you will hundreds of definitions that are well researched and easy to understand.

Titanic Model – This website offers one of the largest online nautical glossaries, with over 1,500 terms, with a multitude of sub-terms and cross references. There is also a PDF version of it on the site, so if you want to download it, that option is available for you.

Project Liberty Ship – This glossary contains the most important terms from the nautical and shipbuilding sectors. It’s significantly smaller than the previous one, but it does include some essential words.

Worona Rural Fire Brigade – Again we have a glossary of nautical terms, but this one dates from 1814.

Seatalk Nautical Dictionary – Next we have a vast nautical dictionary, which offers you not just definitions, but also relevant images of ships and gear and examples of good seamanship. A valuable resource to consider.

Seine Maritime – Seine Maritime has also created a useful glossary of port and shipping terms. This one is very fluid and well designed, the pages flow nicely and it’s just easy to navigate.

US Merchant Marine – Next we have a maritime glossary dating from 1944, which could turn out to be a very useful resource for translators who are working on a book about sailing or pertaining to the maritime field.

Car and Driver – This is a small glossary specialising in the automotive technology that includes the most difficult and complex words related to cars.

Autoevolution – Here we come across another auto glossary, significantly larger than the previous one and with more detailed explanations.

Edmunds – Edmunds.com has compiled an alphabetically ordered glossary of auto terms containing a few other rare and complex words from the automotive industry.

Wikipedia – Wikipedia comes again to our aid with a glossary of automotive design. It’s alphabetically ordered and contains short and clear definitions.

AutoTrader – On AutoTrader you will find a very helpful list of automotive terms and acronyms that’s also alphabetically arranged.

Serious Wheels – Serious Wheels also created a car terms glossary, but they chose to focus their attention on certain car models, names and features (some vintage, some exclusive)

Whatcar? – The purpose of this glossary is to help you with the most common jargon, acronyms and technical phrases that one might encounter when trying to buy, use or sell a car.

CarWale – CarWale offers a comprehensive glossary pertaining to the auto industry, containing both complex terms and acronyms.

Motor Era – With over 20,000 expressions defined, Motor Era offers you one of the most thorough glossaries out there in terms of automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, motors and boats. It also indicates on the front page exactly how may terms/expressions defined there are for every letter of the alphabet.

Wiktionary – Wiktionary comes to our assistance this time with a glossary of aviation, aerospace and aeronautics terms, again with the advantage of being able to click on any term and see a more detailed description on a separate dedicated page.

Aerofiles – Here we encounter a glossary of aviation terms and acronyms used in association with civil flying. (last updated in 2008)

Gsal – This is another glossary of airplane terms, slightly smaller, but intermixed with several acronyms.

SeatGuru – SeatGuru offers the readers a list of several words related to airline seating, useful both for the general population as well as for specialised translators.

Cambridge – Next we have a very comprehensive glossary of aviation terms offered by Cambridge containing the most specialised terms used in the industry.

Flightsim Aviation Zone – This is an aviation glossary that includes the most essential terms used by pilots and flight personnel.

Flight Training – On this website we can find a glossary representing the ABCs of aviation, as well as the phonetic alphabet used in radiotelephony.

Airodyssey – Here we present to you a glossary of civil aviation and air travel terminology, including both common terms and acronyms.

All Acronyms – A very useful resource containing 139 of the most common air transport acronyms and abbreviations.

Abbreviations – With over 6,000 acronyms and abbreviations in the transportation domain, this proves to be a highly valuable resource for all translators out there who encounter difficulties with words related to this field.