Glossary¶

Business vocabulary containers - organizing and standardizing business terminology

Overview¶

The Glossary entity represents a container for organizing business terms and definitions. It provides a structured way to manage business vocabulary, ensuring consistent understanding of terms across the organization.

Relationship Diagram¶

graph TD
    %% Main entity
    GLOSS[Glossary<br/>BusinessGlossary]

    %% Hierarchical relationships
    GLOSS -->|contains| GT1[GlossaryTerm<br/>Customer]
    GLOSS -->|contains| GT2[GlossaryTerm<br/>Revenue]
    GLOSS -->|contains| GT3[GlossaryTerm<br/>Product]

    %% Nested term hierarchy
    GT1 -->|has child| GT1A[GlossaryTerm<br/>EnterpriseCustomer]
    GT1 -->|has child| GT1B[GlossaryTerm<br/>IndividualCustomer]

    %% Governance relationships
    USR[User/Team<br/>DataGovernance] -.->|owns| GLOSS
    REV1[User<br/>Jane Doe] -.->|reviews| GLOSS
    REV2[User<br/>John Smith] -.->|reviews| GLOSS
    DOM[Domain<br/>Enterprise] -.->|groups| GLOSS

    %% Classification relationships
    TAG1[Tag<br/>Governance.Approved] -.->|classifies| GLOSS

    %% Applied to assets
    GT1 -.->|describes| TBL1[Table<br/>customers]
    GT1 -.->|describes| COL1[Column<br/>customer_type]
    GT2 -.->|describes| TBL2[Table<br/>sales]
    GT3 -.->|describes| DASH[Dashboard<br/>Product Analytics]

    %% Styling
    classDef glossary fill:#8B5CF6,stroke:#7C3AED,color:#fff
    classDef term fill:#A78BFA,stroke:#8B5CF6,color:#fff
    classDef governance fill:#059669,stroke:#047857,color:#fff
    classDef data fill:#2563EB,stroke:#1E40AF,color:#fff

    class GLOSS glossary
    class GT1,GT2,GT3,GT1A,GT1B term
    class USR,REV1,REV2,DOM,TAG1 governance
    class TBL1,TBL2,COL1,DASH data

Schema Specifications¶

View the complete Glossary schema in your preferred format:

JSON SchemaRDFJSON-LD

Complete JSON Schema Definition

{
  "$id": "https://open-metadata.org/schema/entity/data/glossary.json",
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "title": "Glossary",
  "description": "A `Glossary` is a collection of hierarchical `GlossaryTerm` entities that define business concepts and terminology.",
  "type": "object",
  "javaType": "org.openmetadata.schema.entity.data.Glossary",

  "definitions": {
    "mutuallyExclusive": {
      "description": "Glossary terms in this glossary are mutually exclusive",
      "type": "boolean",
      "default": false
    }
  },

  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "description": "Unique identifier",
      "$ref": "../../type/basic.json#/definitions/uuid"
    },
    "name": {
      "description": "Glossary name",
      "$ref": "../../type/basic.json#/definitions/entityName"
    },
    "fullyQualifiedName": {
      "description": "Fully qualified name of the glossary",
      "$ref": "../../type/basic.json#/definitions/fullyQualifiedEntityName"
    },
    "displayName": {
      "description": "Display name",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "description": {
      "description": "Markdown description of the glossary purpose",
      "$ref": "../../type/basic.json#/definitions/markdown"
    },
    "terms": {
      "description": "Terms in this glossary",
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
      }
    },
    "owner": {
      "description": "Owner (user or team)",
      "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
    },
    "domain": {
      "description": "Data domain",
      "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
    },
    "tags": {
      "description": "Classification tags",
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "$ref": "../../type/tagLabel.json"
      }
    },
    "reviewers": {
      "description": "Users or teams that can review and approve glossary term changes",
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "$ref": "../../type/entityReference.json"
      }
    },
    "mutuallyExclusive": {
      "$ref": "#/definitions/mutuallyExclusive"
    },
    "version": {
      "description": "Metadata version",
      "$ref": "../../type/entityHistory.json#/definitions/entityVersion"
    }
  },

  "required": ["id", "name", "description"]
}

View Full JSON Schema →

RDF/OWL Ontology Definition

@prefix om: <https://open-metadata.org/schema/> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

# Glossary Class Definition
om:Glossary a owl:Class ;
    rdfs:subClassOf om:GovernanceAsset ;
    rdfs:label "Glossary" ;
    rdfs:comment "A container for organizing business terminology and glossary terms" ;
    om:hierarchyLevel 1 .

# Properties
om:glossaryName a owl:DatatypeProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:Glossary ;
    rdfs:range xsd:string ;
    rdfs:label "name" ;
    rdfs:comment "Name of the glossary" .

om:fullyQualifiedName a owl:DatatypeProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:Glossary ;
    rdfs:range xsd:string ;
    rdfs:label "fullyQualifiedName" ;
    rdfs:comment "Complete name of the glossary" .

om:mutuallyExclusive a owl:DatatypeProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:Glossary ;
    rdfs:range xsd:boolean ;
    rdfs:label "mutuallyExclusive" ;
    rdfs:comment "Whether terms in this glossary are mutually exclusive" .

om:hasTerm a owl:ObjectProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:Glossary ;
    rdfs:range om:GlossaryTerm ;
    rdfs:label "hasTerm" ;
    rdfs:comment "Glossary terms in this glossary" .

om:ownedBy a owl:ObjectProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:Glossary ;
    rdfs:range om:Owner ;
    rdfs:label "ownedBy" ;
    rdfs:comment "User or team that owns this glossary" .

om:hasReviewer a owl:ObjectProperty ;
    rdfs:domain om:Glossary ;
    rdfs:range om:User ;
    rdfs:label "hasReviewer" ;
    rdfs:comment "Users or teams that can review glossary terms" .

# Example Instance
ex:businessGlossary a om:Glossary ;
    om:glossaryName "BusinessGlossary" ;
    om:fullyQualifiedName "BusinessGlossary" ;
    om:displayName "Business Glossary" ;
    om:description "Standard business terminology for the organization" ;
    om:mutuallyExclusive false ;
    om:ownedBy ex:dataGovernanceTeam ;
    om:hasReviewer ex:janeDoe ;
    om:hasTerm ex:customerTerm ;
    om:hasTerm ex:revenueTerm .

View Full RDF Ontology →

JSON-LD Context and Example

{
  "@context": {
    "@vocab": "https://open-metadata.org/schema/",
    "om": "https://open-metadata.org/schema/",
    "rdfs": "http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#",
    "xsd": "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#",

    "Glossary": "om:Glossary",
    "name": {
      "@id": "om:glossaryName",
      "@type": "xsd:string"
    },
    "fullyQualifiedName": {
      "@id": "om:fullyQualifiedName",
      "@type": "xsd:string"
    },
    "displayName": {
      "@id": "om:displayName",
      "@type": "xsd:string"
    },
    "description": {
      "@id": "om:description",
      "@type": "xsd:string"
    },
    "mutuallyExclusive": {
      "@id": "om:mutuallyExclusive",
      "@type": "xsd:boolean"
    },
    "terms": {
      "@id": "om:hasTerm",
      "@type": "@id",
      "@container": "@set"
    },
    "owner": {
      "@id": "om:ownedBy",
      "@type": "@id"
    },
    "domain": {
      "@id": "om:inDomain",
      "@type": "@id"
    },
    "reviewers": {
      "@id": "om:hasReviewer",
      "@type": "@id",
      "@container": "@set"
    },
    "tags": {
      "@id": "om:hasTag",
      "@type": "@id",
      "@container": "@set"
    }
  }
}

Example JSON-LD Instance:

{
  "@context": "https://open-metadata.org/context/glossary.jsonld",
  "@type": "Glossary",
  "@id": "https://example.com/glossary/business",

  "name": "BusinessGlossary",
  "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary",
  "displayName": "Business Glossary",
  "description": "# Business Glossary\n\nStandard business terminology and definitions for the organization.\n\n## Purpose\n- Ensure consistent understanding of business terms\n- Document business concepts and relationships\n- Support data governance initiatives",
  "mutuallyExclusive": false,

  "owner": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/teams/data-governance",
    "@type": "Team",
    "name": "DataGovernance",
    "displayName": "Data Governance Team"
  },

  "reviewers": [
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/users/jane.doe",
      "@type": "User",
      "name": "jane.doe",
      "displayName": "Jane Doe"
    },
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/users/john.smith",
      "@type": "User",
      "name": "john.smith",
      "displayName": "John Smith"
    }
  ],

  "domain": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/domains/enterprise",
    "@type": "Domain",
    "name": "Enterprise"
  },

  "tags": [
    {
      "@id": "https://open-metadata.org/tags/Governance/Approved",
      "tagFQN": "Governance.Approved"
    }
  ],

  "terms": [
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/glossary/business/Customer",
      "@type": "GlossaryTerm",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary.Customer"
    },
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/glossary/business/Revenue",
      "@type": "GlossaryTerm",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary.Revenue"
    }
  ]
}

View Full JSON-LD Context →

Use Cases¶

Create domain-specific glossaries (Sales, Finance, Marketing, etc.)
Establish organization-wide business terminology standards
Document regulatory and compliance terminology
Support data governance programs
Enable self-service data discovery through business context
Facilitate cross-team communication with shared vocabulary
Maintain hierarchical term relationships

JSON Schema Specification¶

Core Properties¶

`id` (uuid)¶

Type: string (UUID format) Required: Yes (system-generated) Description: Unique identifier for this glossary instance

{
  "id": "1a2b3c4d-5e6f-4a7b-8c9d-0e1f2a3b4c5d"
}

`name` (entityName)¶

Type: string Required: Yes Pattern: ^[^.]*$ (no dots allowed) Min Length: 1 Max Length: 256 Description: Name of the glossary

{
  "name": "BusinessGlossary"
}

`fullyQualifiedName` (fullyQualifiedEntityName)¶

Type: string Required: Yes (system-generated) Pattern: ^((?!::).)*$ Description: Fully qualified name of the glossary

{
  "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary"
}

`displayName`¶

Type: string Required: No Description: Human-readable display name

{
  "displayName": "Business Glossary"
}

`description` (markdown)¶

Type: string (Markdown format) Required: Yes Description: Rich text description of the glossary's purpose and scope

{
  "description": "# Business Glossary\n\nStandard business terminology and definitions for the organization.\n\n## Purpose\n- Ensure consistent understanding of business terms\n- Document business concepts and relationships\n- Support data governance initiatives"
}

Structure Properties¶

`terms[]` (GlossaryTerm[])¶

Type: array of GlossaryTerm references Required: No Description: List of glossary terms in this glossary

{
  "terms": [
    {
      "id": "term-uuid-1",
      "type": "glossaryTerm",
      "name": "Customer",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary.Customer"
    },
    {
      "id": "term-uuid-2",
      "type": "glossaryTerm",
      "name": "Revenue",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary.Revenue"
    }
  ]
}

`mutuallyExclusive` (boolean)¶

Type: boolean Required: No (default: false) Description: Whether terms in this glossary are mutually exclusive (only one can apply)

{
  "mutuallyExclusive": false
}

Governance Properties¶

`owner` (EntityReference)¶

Type: object Required: No Description: User or team that owns this glossary

{
  "owner": {
    "id": "owner-uuid",
    "type": "team",
    "name": "DataGovernance",
    "displayName": "Data Governance Team"
  }
}

`reviewers[]` (EntityReference[])¶

Type: array of User or Team references Required: No Description: Users or teams that can review and approve glossary term changes

{
  "reviewers": [
    {
      "id": "reviewer-uuid-1",
      "type": "user",
      "name": "jane.doe",
      "displayName": "Jane Doe"
    },
    {
      "id": "reviewer-uuid-2",
      "type": "user",
      "name": "john.smith",
      "displayName": "John Smith"
    }
  ]
}

`domain` (EntityReference)¶

Type: object Required: No Description: Data domain this glossary belongs to

{
  "domain": {
    "id": "domain-uuid",
    "type": "domain",
    "name": "Enterprise",
    "fullyQualifiedName": "Enterprise"
  }
}

`tags[]` (TagLabel[])¶

Type: array Required: No Description: Classification tags applied to the glossary

{
  "tags": [
    {
      "tagFQN": "Governance.Approved",
      "description": "Approved by governance team",
      "source": "Classification",
      "labelType": "Manual",
      "state": "Confirmed"
    }
  ]
}

Versioning Properties¶

`version` (entityVersion)¶

Type: number Required: Yes (system-managed) Description: Metadata version number, incremented on changes

{
  "version": 1.2
}

`updatedAt` (timestamp)¶

Type: integer (Unix epoch milliseconds) Required: Yes (system-managed) Description: Last update timestamp

{
  "updatedAt": 1704240000000
}

`updatedBy` (string)¶

Type: string Required: Yes (system-managed) Description: User who made the update

{
  "updatedBy": "jane.doe"
}

Complete Example¶

{
  "id": "1a2b3c4d-5e6f-4a7b-8c9d-0e1f2a3b4c5d",
  "name": "BusinessGlossary",
  "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary",
  "displayName": "Business Glossary",
  "description": "# Business Glossary\n\nStandard business terminology and definitions for the organization.",
  "mutuallyExclusive": false,
  "owner": {
    "id": "owner-uuid",
    "type": "team",
    "name": "DataGovernance",
    "displayName": "Data Governance Team"
  },
  "reviewers": [
    {
      "id": "reviewer-uuid-1",
      "type": "user",
      "name": "jane.doe",
      "displayName": "Jane Doe"
    }
  ],
  "domain": {
    "id": "domain-uuid",
    "type": "domain",
    "name": "Enterprise"
  },
  "tags": [
    {
      "tagFQN": "Governance.Approved"
    }
  ],
  "terms": [
    {
      "id": "term-uuid-1",
      "type": "glossaryTerm",
      "name": "Customer",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary.Customer"
    },
    {
      "id": "term-uuid-2",
      "type": "glossaryTerm",
      "name": "Revenue",
      "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary.Revenue"
    }
  ],
  "version": 1.2,
  "updatedAt": 1704240000000,
  "updatedBy": "jane.doe"
}

RDF Representation¶

Ontology Class¶

@prefix om: <https://open-metadata.org/schema/> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

om:Glossary a owl:Class ;
    rdfs:subClassOf om:GovernanceAsset ;
    rdfs:label "Glossary" ;
    rdfs:comment "A container for organizing business terminology" ;
    om:hasProperties [
        om:name "string" ;
        om:description "string" ;
        om:terms "GlossaryTerm[]" ;
        om:owner "Owner" ;
        om:reviewers "User[]" ;
        om:mutuallyExclusive "boolean" ;
    ] .

Instance Example¶

@prefix om: <https://open-metadata.org/schema/> .
@prefix ex: <https://example.com/glossary/> .

ex:businessGlossary a om:Glossary ;
    om:name "BusinessGlossary" ;
    om:fullyQualifiedName "BusinessGlossary" ;
    om:displayName "Business Glossary" ;
    om:description "Standard business terminology for the organization" ;
    om:mutuallyExclusive false ;
    om:ownedBy ex:dataGovernanceTeam ;
    om:hasReviewer ex:janeDoe ;
    om:hasReviewer ex:johnSmith ;
    om:hasTerm ex:customerTerm ;
    om:hasTerm ex:revenueTerm ;
    om:hasTag ex:governanceApproved .

JSON-LD Context¶

{
  "@context": {
    "@vocab": "https://open-metadata.org/schema/",
    "om": "https://open-metadata.org/schema/",
    "Glossary": "om:Glossary",
    "name": "om:name",
    "fullyQualifiedName": "om:fullyQualifiedName",
    "displayName": "om:displayName",
    "description": "om:description",
    "mutuallyExclusive": "om:mutuallyExclusive",
    "terms": {
      "@id": "om:hasTerm",
      "@type": "@id",
      "@container": "@set"
    },
    "owner": {
      "@id": "om:ownedBy",
      "@type": "@id"
    },
    "reviewers": {
      "@id": "om:hasReviewer",
      "@type": "@id",
      "@container": "@set"
    }
  }
}

JSON-LD Example¶

{
  "@context": "https://open-metadata.org/context/glossary.jsonld",
  "@type": "Glossary",
  "@id": "https://example.com/glossary/business",
  "name": "BusinessGlossary",
  "fullyQualifiedName": "BusinessGlossary",
  "displayName": "Business Glossary",
  "description": "Standard business terminology for the organization",
  "mutuallyExclusive": false,
  "owner": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/teams/data-governance",
    "@type": "Team"
  },
  "reviewers": [
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/users/jane.doe",
      "@type": "User"
    }
  ],
  "terms": [
    {
      "@id": "https://example.com/glossary/business/Customer",
      "@type": "GlossaryTerm"
    }
  ]
}

Relationships¶

Child Entities¶

GlossaryTerm: Terms defined in this glossary

Associated Entities¶

Owner: User or team owning this glossary
Reviewer: Users or teams that can review terms
Domain: Business domain assignment
Tag: Classification tags

Custom Properties¶

This entity supports custom properties through the extension field. Common custom properties include:

Data Classification: Sensitivity level
Cost Center: Billing allocation
Retention Period: Data retention requirements
Application Owner: Owning application/team

See Custom Properties for details on defining and using custom properties.

API Operations¶

List Glossaries¶

GET /v1/glossaries
Query Parameters:
  - fields: Fields to include (owners, tags, reviewers, usageCount, termCount, domains, extension)
  - limit: Number of results (1-1000000, default 10)
  - before: Cursor for previous page
  - after: Cursor for next page
  - include: all | deleted | non-deleted (default: non-deleted)

Response: GlossaryList

Example Request:

GET /v1/glossaries?fields=owners,termCount,reviewers&limit=20

Create Glossary¶

POST /v1/glossaries
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "BusinessGlossary",
  "displayName": "Business Glossary",
  "description": "# Business Glossary\n\nStandard business terminology and definitions for enterprise-wide consistency.",
  "owner": {
    "id": "team-uuid",
    "type": "team"
  },
  "reviewers": [
    {
      "id": "user-uuid-1",
      "type": "user"
    },
    {
      "id": "user-uuid-2",
      "type": "user"
    }
  ],
  "tags": [
    {"tagFQN": "Governance.Approved"},
    {"tagFQN": "BusinessCritical"}
  ],
  "domain": {
    "id": "domain-uuid",
    "type": "domain"
  },
  "mutuallyExclusive": false
}

Response: Glossary

Get Glossary by Name¶

GET /v1/glossaries/name/{name}
Query Parameters:
  - fields: Fields to include (owners, tags, reviewers, usageCount, termCount, domains)
  - include: all | deleted | non-deleted (default: non-deleted)

Response: Glossary

Example Request:

GET /v1/glossaries/name/BusinessGlossary?fields=owners,termCount,reviewers

Get Glossary by FQN¶

GET /v1/glossaries/name/{fqn}
Query Parameters:
  - fields: Fields to include
  - include: all | deleted | non-deleted (default: non-deleted)

Response: Glossary

Get Glossary by ID¶

GET /v1/glossaries/{id}
Query Parameters:
  - fields: Fields to include
  - include: all | deleted | non-deleted (default: non-deleted)

Response: Glossary

Update Glossary (Partial)¶

PATCH /v1/glossaries/{id}
Content-Type: application/json-patch+json

[
  {
    "op": "add",
    "path": "/reviewers/-",
    "value": {
      "id": "new-reviewer-uuid",
      "type": "user"
    }
  },
  {
    "op": "replace",
    "path": "/description",
    "value": "Updated glossary description"
  },
  {
    "op": "add",
    "path": "/tags/-",
    "value": {"tagFQN": "Governance.Published"}
  }
]

Response: Glossary

Create or Update Glossary¶

PUT /v1/glossaries
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "BusinessGlossary",
  "displayName": "Business Glossary",
  "description": "Standard business terminology",
  "owner": {
    "id": "team-uuid",
    "type": "team"
  }
}

Response: Glossary

Delete Glossary¶

DELETE /v1/glossaries/{id}
Query Parameters:
  - hardDelete: true | false (default: false - soft delete)
  - recursive: true | false (default: false)

Response: Glossary

Delete Glossary (Async)¶

DELETE /v1/glossaries/async/{id}
Query Parameters:
  - hardDelete: true | false (default: false)
  - recursive: true | false (default: false)

Response: Async deletion job details

Export Glossary¶

GET /v1/glossaries/name/{name}/export

Response: CSV file with glossary terms

Export Glossary (Async)¶

GET /v1/glossaries/name/{name}/exportAsync

Response: Async export job details

Get CSV Documentation¶

GET /v1/glossaries/documentation/csv

Response: CSV template documentation

Import Glossary¶

PUT /v1/glossaries/name/{name}/import
Content-Type: multipart/form-data

file: [CSV file with glossary terms]
dryRun: false

Response: Import result

Import Glossary (Async)¶

PUT /v1/glossaries/name/{name}/importAsync
Content-Type: multipart/form-data

file: [CSV file with glossary terms]
dryRun: false

Response: Async import job details

Get Glossary Version¶

GET /v1/glossaries/{id}/versions/{version}

Response: Glossary (specific version)

Get Glossary Versions¶

GET /v1/glossaries/{id}/versions

Response: EntityHistory (all versions)

Restore Glossary¶

PUT /v1/glossaries/restore
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": "glossary-uuid"
}

Response: Glossary (restored)

Vote on Glossary¶

PUT /v1/glossaries/{id}/vote
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "vote": "upvote"
}

Response: ChangeEvent

GlossaryTerm - Individual business terms
Classification - Tag hierarchies
Domain - Business domains
Governance - Governance framework