IATE

One of the tools which has been created to support translators in the European Union is a terminology database IATE. In this chapter you will read about the idea behind IATE, its objectives and contents.

In 1999 the European Union's translation services [1] engaged in a rather ambitious endeavour: the "Inter-Active Terminology for Europe" (IATE). The objective of the project was to create a single terminology database for all EU institutions and agencies.

 

Since summer 2004 IATE has been used in the EU’s translation services. Translators and terminologists consult the database. They add about 200 terms and modify and validate around 250 daily. Today IATE contains 8.4 million terms, including approximately 540 000 abbreviations and 130 000 phrases, and covers all 23 official EU languages.

 

It had always been one of the objectives of the project to share this wealth of information with the public. The official opening of the IATE database on 28 June 2007 was the last step in a long development process that aimed to provide citizens with a simple, easy-to-use tool that will help them to better understand terminology in the 23 official languages of the Community.

 

[1] The following institutions and agencies cooperate in the IATE project:

  • European Commission
  • Council
  • Parliament
  • Court of Auditors
  • Economic and Social Committee
  • Committee of the Regions
  • Court of Justice
  • Translation Centre for the Bodies of the EU
  • European Investment Bank
  • European Central Bank

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Check your understanding of the text on the following questions:

 

IATE stands for:

  
Important Action in Translation for Europe
Inter-Active Terminology for Europe
Intact Administrative Training for Europe

IATE contains roughly 8.4 million
  
abbreviations
phrases
terms

IATE is available to
  
DGT translators only
speakers of English only
public

You can find more information on IATE and how to make most of it in the following brochure.
Ikona iDevice Now you know
  • what IATE stands for
  • what IATE objectives are