How glossaries work in Lara

Lara’s glossary system lets you define exactly how specific terms should be translated, across any text or document. Whether you work with technical terms, product names, or recurring brand phrases, glossaries are your best tool to ensure consistency and precision.

If you’re on the Pro plan, you can upload one glossary directly from the UI. Team plan users can create and manage unlimited glossaries, and even share them with teammates for collaborative use. All glossary entries are stored securely and can be used during translations to override general AI behavior, so your preferred terms are always prioritized.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Open Lara and go to the Glossaries section from the main dashboard. There, you’ll see a list of all your available glossaries. 

   Note: With a Team subscription, only team owners can add and delete glossaries. All team members can activate glossaries when translating content. 

2. Click on the Add glossary button. A dialog will open where you can choose the glossary Type — either Unidirectional or Multidirectional — and enter a name. You can then upload a CSV file by dragging and dropping it into the area, or by clicking to browse and select it manually.

3. Before uploading, you can also download a template to help you format your CSV file correctly. Click on the "Download template" link to get a zipped folder that includes:

   • A sample .csv file in the correct format (with source and target language columns).

   • A .txt instruction file that explains how to compile it step by step.

4. Your CSV file must follow the Lara Glossary Format:

   • The first row should contain language codes like en-GB, it-IT, fr-FR, etc. Please check supported ISO language codes here.

   • The first column is always the source language.

   • Each subsequent column represents a target language.

   • Each row after that should include at least one source term and at least one corresponding target term in any of the target language columns.

   • Empty cells are allowed, as long as:

     • They are not in the source language column.

     • Each source term has at least one translation in one of the target languages.

5. Multidirectional CSV format

   Multidirectional glossaries use a different CSV structure. Instead of a source column followed by target columns, each column represents a language, and entries apply across all language combinations in the file.

   • The first column must be an entry identifier column, named either guid or id.

   • Columns 2 onwards must contain valid Lara language codes (e.g. en-US, it-IT, fr-FR). Language codes must not be duplicated, and at least two language columns are required.

   • Each row must have a non-empty guid and at least two non-empty language values.

   • Empty cells are allowed — translations involving a missing language value won’t be enforced for that row.

   Example header: guid,en-US,fr-FR,it-IT

   A single row like g_1,apple,pomme,mela applies to all directions: en-US↔fr-FR, en-US↔it-IT, and fr-FR↔it-IT.

   You can download a ready-to-use template directly from the Add glossary dialog by clicking Download template.

6. Once uploaded, your glossary will be added to your list. From this dropdown list, you can activate or deactivate any glossary with a simple selection. Active glossaries will automatically be applied during both text and document translations.

7. You can export your glossary at any time in CSV format. Just click the download icon next to the glossary name. The file will follow the same structure used during import.

8. When a glossary is active, Lara ensures your custom terms are respected. These terms take precedence over general AI translations, and Lara smartly adapts them based on context, handling things like plural forms, idiomatic expressions, verb tenses, and even gender differences.

Note: when translating, always make sure to select the correct source and target language. Lara matches glossary entries according to the language codes in your CSV file, so if the chosen languages don't align with your glossary setup, the terms will not be applied. 

Glossary behavior

Lara supports two types of glossaries:

Unidirectional glossaries apply entries only from the source language to the specified target language — not in reverse. For example, an entry from English to French will not be applied when translating from French to English. Unidirectional glossaries are also case sensitive.

Multidirectional glossaries apply entries across all language combinations defined in the CSV file. The same terminology is enforced regardless of which language is the source and which is the target, making them ideal for projects where translation direction may vary.

In both cases, when a glossary is active, Lara smartly adapts terms based on context, handling plural forms, idiomatic expressions, verb tenses, and gender differences. If the same source term appears with multiple possible targets, Lara selects the one that best fits the context of the sentence.

This article is about:

• Creating and uploading glossaries

• Glossary import via CSV

• Downloading a template for glossary creation

• Exporting and activating glossaries for translation

• Multidirectional glossary format and behavior