Alphabetical List of Terms

Use this phrase to describe continuous availability. Don't replace the x's with slashes, hyphens, or the word by.

on Don't use on to mean about.

Don't use about to mean approximately.

Don't use. Instead, use words like stop, exit, cancel, or end.

Don't use above to locate information within a topic or a deliverable or to refer to releases or product versions.

To locate information, use preceding or provide a specific link or cross-reference.

To refer to releases or product versions, use later.

Hyphenate this term when using it as a noun or adjective. Don't use add on or addon.

administrator administer administrative - Use admin in code as needed, such as role: "admin".

• Use administrator in descriptive content, such as "The administrator of the accounts".

• Use administer when a verb form is needed. Do not use administrate. For example, "Kelly administers the accounts processes for that customer."

• Use administrative as ad adjective before a noun, such as administrative role.

effect Use affect as a verb to mean influence, change, or have an effect on. Use effect as a noun to mean the result of an action or the power to bring about a result.

once Use after to mean occurring subsequently in time or order. Use once to mean one time.

Don't use after to refer to the location of information. Instead, use next, follows, following, or provide a specific cross-reference.

Use uppercase instead.

Use allow only when discussing permission. Avoid using allow to imply that a program, feature, or product permits a user to do something. Use you can instead. Enables is also acceptable.

This restriction also applies to let and permit.

alternative Use alternate as a verb to refer to performing by turns or changing from one state to another state repeatedly.

Use alternative as a noun or adjective to mean a choice between two things, such as alternative methods.

PM Show in uppercase, with no periods after each letter, and a space before.

between When referring to three or more persons or items or when the number is unspecified, use among.

When referring to two persons or items or when referring to the relationship between two items at a time, use between.

If you're new to Linux, you have to choose among unfamiliar distributions.

Acting as an abstraction layer between a guest OS and the physical hardware, the hypervisor must juggle physical resources among multiple competing consumers.

This construction is ambiguous and doesn't exist in other languages. For clarity, use one of the following constructions:

• To indicate that one alternative or another is acceptable, use or.

• To indicate multiple alternatives, use a list.

• To indicate that two alternatives are acceptable, either separately or combined, use or both.

Use initial caps. Never use android.

Don't hyphenate words that begin with the prefix anti unless the root word starts with an i or a capital letter.

If you have a question about a particular word, look it up in a dictionary.

Use any time as a noun.

Use anytime as an adverb.

APIs

Use API to refer to either an API for a service or a language-Specific API. Don't use it when referring to a method or a class. The plural form of API is APIs, not API's.

Recommended	Not Recommended
Use the API for Cloud Servers when you need a feature that is not available in the Control Panel.	Don't write "This resource has one API" when you mean "This resource has one method."

Unlike display, appear doesn't require a direct object. You can use appear instead of is displayed if the context is appropriate.

architected Use architect as a noun only. For a verb, use design, create, plan, or another appropriate verb.

Don't use architected as an adjective, use designed or another appropriate word.

since Don't use as or since when describing the reason for a situation, event, and so on. Use because instead.

Use since only to express an interval, not causality.

• Don't hyphenate words that begin with the prefix auto unless it's necessary to avoid confusion.

• Don't make up words that start with auto. When in doubt, use automatic or automatically instead.

• Don't use auto as an abbreviation for automatic or automatically, unless you are referring to a label on a UI.

If you have a question about a particular word, look it up in a dictionary.

backup

Use back up as a verb. Use backup as a noun or adjective.

Use because (not since or as) to express causality.

Use before to mean to precede in time or order of actions.

Don't use before to refer to the location of information. Instead, use previous, preceding, or provide a specific cross-reference.

Don't use below to locate information within a topic or a deliverable or to refer to releases or product versions.

To locate information, use following or provide a specific link or cross-reference.

To refer to releases or product versions, use earlier.

among When referring to three or more persons or items or when the number is unspecified, use among.

When referring to two persons or items or when referring to the relationship between two items at a time, use between.

Billion indicates different numbers in different numeration systems. In the short-scale system (used in the English-speaking countries), it indicates 10 ⁹, or 1,000,000,000. In the long-scale system (used in Spanish-speaking countries), it indicates 10 ¹², or 1,000,000,000,000.

To avoid confusion when you're citing a large number such as a billion, express the amount in numerals. If space constraints prevent writing numerals, use billion as defined in the short-scale system.

Don't use. Use access list as a noun and remove from an access list as a verb. Use blocked as an adjective.

Use to refer to only two things.

bottom right When referring to the location of an item on a UI, use lower left and lower right instead.

Use box instead of field to describe a box (including a text box, list box, group box, combo box, and spin box) within a dialog box or window. When citing a specific UI element name, use only box with the name (for example, Candidate box, not Candidate list box) except when naming a check box. In contrast, when citing one of these terms generically, use the complete term, such as list box.

Don't use this term to refer to starting or turning on a system. Use start or turn on instead.

Don't use this term to refer to the opening of a window or part of a UI. Use open instead.

Don't use button and icon interchangeably. If you're referring to a command button or toolbar button (labeled or unlabeled), use button. If you're referring to a graphic on a screen, window, or other area, use icon.

When providing an instruction to click a button that executes a command, use the name of the button without the word button.

Use can to indicate the power or ability to perform an action.

Use check box as two words. In a user action, tell the user whether to clear or select the check box.

Use click to mean press and release a mouse button. Use click to refer to operations and selections that you make with a mouse. Don't use click on or press.

Use client to refer to a computer, object, or program that obtains data or services from a server. If the context is clear, you can use client as a noun. If the context isn't clear, use client as an adjective (for example, client computer).

Don't use client to refer to a person. Use customer instead.

open For folders in a tree, use open to refer to the action of opening a folder. Use close to refer to the action of closing the folder.

In other contexts, use open to refer to opening a window, dialog box, or file. Use close to refer to the Close button or closing a window, dialog box, or file.

colocation Use as shown, with one l and no hyphen, when referring to locating customer equipment in a third-party data center.

Use command when referring to a selection on a menu, an instruction for an action to take place, or the name of a command. Don't use menu item, menu option, or menu choice.

When providing an instruction to click a button that executes a command, use the name of the button without the word button. In a description, you can use the name and button, especially when another button name or option name is the same or similar.

command-line Don't hyphenate command line when it's used as a noun. Hyphenate it when used as an adjective, as in command-line interface.

In the command-line interface, type the following command:

Use as a phrasal verb meaning to cause to become a comment. When you comment out a line of code, you add characters to the line that make it recognizable as a comment only and not as executable code.

Use complement (not compliment) to describe an item that completes or supplements another item.

Complete is a transitive verb, which means that it requires a direct object. If you can't give it a direct object, use the adjective complete (is complete) or use a different word, such as finish.

Even when this term is used correctly, people think it's used incorrectly. Because of the confusion associated with this term, use consist of, include, or contain instead.

Don't use comprised of.

Use lowercase letters when console isn't part of a product name or a proper name.

Use data with a singular verb.

Use timestamp instead of date wherever applicable to avoid confusion.

Use default as a noun or adjective. Don't use default as a verb.

Use clear instead.

Don't use dialog, dialogue, window, pop-up, screen, or display to mean dialog box. Capitalize dialog box only if it's part of a name that's shown in the software. Use lowercase letters for generic references (the filter dialog box).

Use dimmed to describe the appearance of an unavailable command, option, or button. Don't use disabled, grayed, or grayed out.

Use inactive to describe commands, options, toggles, or buttons in the interface. Use dimmed to describe the appearance of an inactive command, option, or button; use unavailable to refer to its state. Don't use disabled to refer to individuals with disabilities.

Use of disabled is acceptable in other contexts. For example, a feature might be disabled through configuration.

The verb display requires a direct object. You can use the passive is displayed, or you can use appears or opens in the appropriate context.

Don't use display as a noun to mean pane, window, or dialog box.

Always hyphenate when used as a verb or modifier. Don't use double-click on.

When documenting instructions for mobile devices, use double-tap to express the action of quickly touching and releasing an item on the device screen twice in quick succession. Always hyphenate.

drag-and-drop The verb form is drag; drag-and-drop is an adjective. In UI environments, drag refers to using the mouse to "pull" an item from one area of the screen to another area. Because the action of dropping (releasing the mouse button) is intrinsic to the action of dragging items in a UI, don't use drag and drop as a verb.

Because drill down is idiomatic, avoid using it. Use navigate instead to mean to follow a path to lower-level items in a hierarchy.

Use as an adjective only when you are referring to a drop-down menu as a user interface element. Include the hyphen.

drop-down menu Use list or menu, or use the name of the list or menu.

later Use these terms (instead of lower and higher or below and above) when referring to product releases and version numbers. Don't use earlier or later to refer to information in text.

Don't hyphenate. Capitalize the word if it occurs at the beginning of a sentence or in a title.

affect Use affect as a verb to mean influence, change, or have an effect on. Use effect as a noun to mean the result of an action or the power to bring about a result.

Use for example instead. See Avoid Obscure Non-English Words and Abbreviations.

For multiline examples, use an .. example:: block.

Use either for two items only.

Use as a noun, adjective, and verb. Don't hyphenate. Capitalize when referring to the MongoDB product or if the word occurs at the beginning of a sentence or in a title.

You can use enable instead of allow to describe how a customer interacts with a program, feature, or product. When possible, use you can instead.

end-user When addressing your audience, use customer, you, or the imperative mood instead. You can use end user to refer to the users of your audience.

Hyphenate the term when it's used as an adjective.

Use ensure to mean make certain of an action, event, or outcome. Don't use the following similar terms to convey that meaning:

• assure (which means to set someone's mind at ease)

• be sure

• insure (which means to guarantee financially against risk)

• make sure

Use error message, and not error alone, to refer to the message that notifies customers of an error.

You can use message by itself as a general term to refer to an error, informational, or warning message.

Remove etc. from the text and replace it with and so on or explain what it means (in general terms or by example). Precede a limited list of examples with such as, or list all specific items.

Most words that start with the abbreviation for electronic should be hyphenated, such as e-learning, e-book, and e-reader. Exceptions are email and ecommerce.

Use lowercase for the e in body text, and capitalize the e at the beginning of a sentence or a title. If the term is hyphenated, capitalize the letter following the hyphen in titles.

Don't make up new e-words.

close quit stop

• Use exit to refer to closing a program or application.

• Don't use end, leave, stop, or terminate to refer to closing a program or application.

• Use close to refer to the Close button or closing a window, dialog box, or file.

• Use quit to refer to the QUIT command.

• Use stop to refer to hardware operations, jobs, services, or routines.

Use unable to when you when refer to an individual or company.

You may use fail to describe system performance.

Use the acronym FAQ to refer to an article or section that documents frequently asked questions, or a collections of question and answer (Q&A) pairs. If you need to refer to more than one FAQ, follow FAQ with a plural noun, such as articles or documents. Don't use FAQs.

To refer to the Q&A pairs themselves, spell out frequently asked questions or just use questions.

MongoDB abbreviation for the "feature compatibility version"

of a server. Use all uppercase: FCV. Don't use mixed case: fCV.

less Use fewer for countable items. Use less for collective or mass items.

follow-up Use follow as a verb. Use follow-up as a noun or adjective.

preceding Use these terms as adjectives, not as nouns.

Don't use above, below, earlier, or later to refer to information in text. Where possible, use specific references. If you can't use specific references, use preceding and following as adjectives to refer to elements such as figures and tables.

Don't use given to mean particular or specific. In many cases, no adjective is necessary. If one is, use particular or specific.

Use gray (not grey) only to express color. When referring to the state of inactive commands, options, or buttons on an interface, use unavailable (not dimmed or gray or grayed out).

lower Don't use these terms when referring to product releases and version numbers. Use earlier or later instead.

Use home page to refer to the first (main) page that you see when you enter a website.

Don't use icon and button interchangeably. If you're referring to a graphic on a screen, window, or other area, use icon. If you're referring to a command button or toolbar button (labeled or unlabeled), use button.

IDs

• Use uppercase letters. Don't use id or Id unless the context requires it.

• Don't use ID as a verb; use identify instead.

Use that is instead.

Avoid using this ambiguous phrase. Instead, describe the circumstance in which the action is necessary.

whether

• Use if to introduce an adverbial clause that describes a condition on which an action depends.

• Use whether to introduce a noun clause that describes a possibility or an alternative.

• Use whether or not to describe a condition on which an action doesn't depend.

Don't use impact as a verb. Use affect instead.

into Use in to when in is part of the verb phrase. Use into to imply motion to the inside of something.

installation Use install as a verb only, not as a noun or adjective. Use installation (not install) as a noun meaning the process of installing a product or as an adjective describing the process.

Use interface as a noun meaning user interface. Don't use interface as a verb; use interact instead.

Internet intranet Capitalize Internet when referring to the world’s largest computer network; use lowercase letters when referring generically to any large network made up of smaller networks that are connected by routers. The World Wide Web is part of the Internet.

it's Its is the possessive form of it. It's is the contraction of it is. To avoid confusion and mistakes, use it is instead of it's, or revise the sentence to eliminate it's or it is, which can lead to wordiness or ambiguity.

Use remember or consider, or rewrite to eliminate the need for the term.

Use start instead of launch to refer to programs, services, jobs, routines, or hardware operations.

Avoid using left by itself as a directional term. When possible, use such terms as upper left, lower left, leftmost, and on the left side of instead. Include a hyphen if the term modifies a noun, as in upper-left corner. Don't use left hand.

fewer Use fewer to modify countable nouns. Use less to modify collective or mass nouns.

In technical content, use use instead. In marketing content, use leverage to mean to gain an advantage by the use of something.

life-cycle In most cases, use as two words. Use lifecycle only if it's used in a product interface, is part of a product name, or is part of the name of an external standard.

Use link as both a noun and a verb. To avoid using it as both parts of speech in the same article or section, you can also use hyperlink as a noun.

log off login logoff

• Use log in and log off as verbs for connecting to and disconnecting from a computer, system, or network.

• Use login and logoff as nouns or adjectives.

• Don't use log into; use log in to. Log in is a single phrasal verb. To links that verb to the next word.

Don't use lower-case. Don't use upper/lowercase to mean mixed case.

higher Don't use these terms when referring to product releases and version numbers. Use earlier or later instead.

lower right When referring to the location of an item on a UI, use lower left and lower right instead of bottom left or bottom right.

Use man to refer to man pages or to the man command. Don't use man to refer to people, as in the term man-hours, or to refer to working in the service of something, as in man the phone lines. Use gender-neutral terms instead.

Use may to indicate permission only.

Use command instead of menu item in the following situations:

• Referring to a selection on a menu

• Referring to an order or instruction for an action to take place

• Naming or referring to a command within a product

You can use message as a general term to refer to an error, informational, or warning message, or an email message.

Use might to indicate probability or possibility.

mixed-case Use mixed case to refer to terms that have been formatted with a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters. Don't use upper- and lowercase or upper/lowercase to mean mixed case.

Use this term to refer generally to any kind of mobile device, such as mobile phones and tablets. If you can use a more specific term, do so.

To indicate the necessity of an action, use must rather than have to or need to.

Don't hyphenate words beginning with non, such as nonnumeric and nonzero, unless a hyphen is necessary to avoid confusion or the root word is a proper noun.

Don't use non to negate an entire phrase, as in non-security related (use unrelated to security instead).

Also, don't attach non to a trademark, such as non-Windows.

Place only preceding the word or group that it modifies. If only modifies a final word or phrase, it may precede or follow that word or phrase.

For much more about the use of the word, see Use the Word Only Correctly.

off-premises

Avoid using these terms to distinguish non-Atlas deployments. To distinguish non-Atlas deployments, use self-managed.

Use on-premises to distinguish local computing (in which resources are located on a customer's own site) from remote computing (in which resources are provided partially or totally through the cloud). Always hyphenate. Premises is plural; don't use on-premise or off-premise. For consistency, always use the complete on-premises term, and do not shorten to on-prem.

OS OS is a common abbreviation for operating system and you can use it without first spelling it out if the context is clear. To form the plural of OS, add an s without an apostrophe— OSs.

However, if you feel that the context makes the use of OS or OSs confusing in a particular document, spell out the term in all instances in the document. If space is constrained (such as in a table or figure callout), use the abbreviated forms but explain them in text.

If you mean the combination of operating system and hardware configuration, use platform.

This term describes a system, item, functionality, or feature that's usable without customization. Don't abbreviate as OOTB.

When used as an adjective preceding a noun, the phrase is hyphenated, but when used as an adverb, it isn't hyphenated.

more than Don't use over to indicate quantities; use more than instead. Also, don't use over to refer to version numbers.

When documenting a wizard, use page to mean the successively displayed windows of the wizard. Don't use dialog box, pane, screen, or window.

Use pane to refer to a portion of a window, screen, or console that presents information to the user. Always show in lowercase.

Use per rather than a slash in text to mean for each. In graphical material, use the slash if space is a constraint.

Don't use per to mean according to or by way of.

Configure the utility per these instructions.

Percent can take a singular or a plural verb, depending on the quantity being described. If the percentage refers to a singular term, use a singular verb. If the percentage refers to a plural term, use a plural verb. When a prepositional phrase exists between percent and the verb, the form of the verb is determined by the nearest noun. When a prepositional phrase doesn't follow percent, a singular verb or a plural verb is acceptable.

Always use a number with percent. If you're describing a nonspecific quantity, use percentage.

Unless space is restricted, use percent rather than %.

In general, you can use permission to refer to the ability of a particular user to access a particular resource by means of a user account or assigned role. A permission is associated with an item (as opposed to a whole system), such as a file, directory, or printer shared on a network.

Don't use permissions, privileges, and rights interchangeably to mean the same thing.

Don't use please in instructions. Reserve please for situations in which you're asking the user to do something inconvenient. However, it is rarely necessary.

Use pop-up as an adjective to refer to a menu that's displayed when you right-click an icon or screen, or to refer to a window in context-sensitive Help. Don't use pop-up as a noun or verb.

Use press to mean to push down a key or keys. Don't use the verbs strike, punch, depress, push, or hit.

You can use prior as an adjective, but the preferred term is earlier.

In general, you can use privilege to refer to the capability of performing a specific function, sometimes on a specific object (for example, the capability of executing a particular type of SQL statement). A privilege can be granted or assigned to local groups, global groups, and individual users.

Don't use permissions, privileges, and rights interchangeably to mean the same thing.

Use quit to refer to the QUIT command.

Use quotation mark, not quote, when referring to single quotation marks and double quotation marks.

Don't hyphenate words beginning with re, such as reinstall and reinitialize, unless it's necessary to avoid confusion with another word.

recreate Use re-create to mean to create again. Recreate means to take recreation (relax, renew).

Use see instead for references within a document and cross-references to other documents.

Use restore as a verb or adjective only. Avoid using restore as a noun. You can use it as an adjective, as in the restore operation.

Avoid using right by itself as a directional term. When possible, use such terms as upper right, lower right, rightmost, and on the right side of instead. Include a hyphen if modifying a noun, as in upper-right corner. Don't use right hand.

Don't use right to mean correct.

Always hyphenate when used as a verb or modifier. Don't use right-click on.

Use rights to refer to rules that are associated with a system as a whole, as opposed to an item. Rights are granted or assigned to local groups, global groups, and individual users to allow them to perform certain actions on the system.

Don't use permissions, privileges, and rights interchangeably to mean the same thing.

rollback (adj, n) Use roll back as a verb. Use rollback as a noun or adjective. Use these terms to describe a feature that reverses the current transaction.

runtime Use the noun run time to indicate the time during which an application is running. Use the adjective runtime to describe a thing that's occurring or relevant at run time. Don't hyphenate this term.

Don't add (s) or (es) to the end of a noun to indicate the possibility of more than one item. Use the singular form or the plural form, or use both forms joined by a conjunction.

Use see for references within a document and cross-references to other documents. Don't use refer to, and don't precede see with please.

Use select instead of choose to specify a choice from a list or menu or to specify an option button.

setup Use set up as a verb. Use setup as an adjective or noun.

• Use should only to describe a user action that's recommended. In such cases, however, prefer we recommend instead.

• Don't use should to indicate probability; use might instead.

• Don't use should to indicate necessity; use must instead.

shutdown (adj, n) Use shut down as a verb. Use shutdown as a noun or adjective.

Don't use simply to imply that something is easy; it might not be easy for the user. The term is usually superfluous and can be omitted.

Use since to express a passage of time, not to explain why. Use because to explain why.

startup Use start as a verb instead of start up or launch to refer to programs, services, jobs, routines, or hardware operations. Use startup as a noun or adjective.

Use stop to refer to hardware operations, jobs, services, or routines.

Use such as without a comma to introduce a restrictive clause. Use such as with a comma to introduce a nonrestrictive clause. If a nonrestrictive clause occurs in midsentence, set the clause off with commas.

When documenting instructions for mobile devices, use tap to express the action of quickly touching and releasing an item on the device screen.

You can use this term, rather than kill, to describe ending or stopping a process.

Don't use terminate to refer to closing a program or application; use exit instead.

which Use that to introduce a restrictive clause, and don't use a comma. Use which to introduce a nonrestrictive clause, and use a comma. If a nonrestrictive clause occurs in midsentence, set the clause off with commas.

When then is used as a conjunctive adverb to join two independent clauses, it must be preceded by and or by a semicolon. Preceding it with only a comma creates a comma splice.

there is Avoid using these ambiguous phrases at the beginning of sentences or clauses.

third-party Use third party as a noun. Use third-party as an adjective.

Use timestamp as one word. Use only as a noun. Use timestamp instead of date wherever applicable to avoid confusion.

top right When referring to the location of an item on a UI, use upper left and upper right instead.

Trillion indicates different numbers in different numeration systems. In the short-scale system (used in the English-speaking countries), it indicates 10 ¹², or 1,000,000,000,000. In the long-scale system (used in Spanish-speaking countries), it indicates 10 ¹⁸, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.

To avoid confusion when you're citing a large number such as a trillion, express the amount in numerals. If space constraints prevent writing numerals, use trillion as defined in the short-scale system.

Use unavailable (not dimmed or gray) to refer to the state, not the appearance, of inactive commands, options, or buttons on the interface.

US USA Use United States as the noun form and US as the adjective form. In postal addresses, use USA (the approved postal abbreviation).

Use uppercase for all occurrences of UNIX. Don't connect this trademark to another word by using a hyphen.

Don't use upper-case or upper-lowercase.

upper right When referring to the location of an item on a UI, use upper left and upper right instead of top left or top right.

Use first person judiciously.

by using with Use by using, or recast the sentence. Don't use using (alone) or with. By using is easier for worldwide audiences to understand.

vs. Use compared with instead. In a title, you can use versus to save space.

Use through or by way of instead.

Use first person judiciously.

web page website www home page You can use the web as a short form of the World Wide Web. Use lowercase www only as part of a web address. Use web page to refer to a document on the Internet. Every web page is identified by a unique URL. Use website to refer to a location that consists of a home page and (typically) several additional documents. Use home page to refer to the first (main) page that you see when you enter a site.

whenever Use when, not whenever, to mean at a particular time. Whenever means every time, any time, at all times, or each time.

Avoid stand-alone where clauses to explain values or variables in command syntax examples. Instead, use a sentence or a list.

whether or not

Use while to refer to something occurring during a period of time. Don't use it to mean although, though, or whereas.

Don't use. Use access list as a noun and add to an access list as a verb.

Use window when referring to a portion of a screen with visible boundaries in which an application or part of an application is displayed. A window can contain documents and messages and can be minimized.

wizard page Use lowercase letters for generic references to a wizard; use initial capitals when wizard is part of the name in the interface. Use page to refer to the successive dialog boxes or windows that compose the wizard.

workaround Use work around as a verb. Use workaround as a noun.