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Translation memory

A translation memory (TM) is a file or database containing source language text segments and translated versions of the text segments. Each pair of source and translated segments is called a translation unit (TU). In a TM, the source language segments are all in one language. A TM may contain translations into many languages, but often has just one target language. A TM also maintains supplementary data for each TU, such as who created the TU, and when. This data is held in fields. A user can also add user defined data to TUs. TMs allow translators to reuse translations, thus reducing translation time and effort, and increasing consistency.

Syn. TM