A  Business Dictionary is a cluster of Business Dictionary Blocks whose existence and meaning are defined by the  Business Dictionary.

It comprises the Concepts,  Event Concepts along with the terminology (Terms) used to describe this branch of knowledge or discipline.

A   Business Dictionary is both:

1. A lexical scope (Dictionary Lexical Scope): the meaning of a Dictionary Block can only be determined by the  Business Dictionary where it was created.

2. A universe of discourse: the complete range of Conceptual Objects that are expressed, assumed, or implied in a branch of knowledge, a discipline or a field of study.

Example:

- The Harward Medical Dictionary of Health Terms :

A  Concept is the representation of any tangible or intanglible entity that is of interest to understand the enterprise, its data, resources and activities.

A  Concept is defined through its essential characteristics which can be:

1) A  Concept Property that represents some an immutable factual characteristic such as "name", "amount".

2) A Concept Relationship that represents relationships to other  Concepts.

A  Concept Domain is a subset of the Concepts of a  Business Dictionary that are relevant to an Operating Domain.

For instance, a "Sales Concept Domain" comprises at least the Concepts of "Customer" and "Order" while a standard "Marketing Concept Domain" comprises at least the Concepts of "Market Segment", "Product" and "Value Proposition".

A  Concept Property is an immutable factual characteristic of a Conceptual Entity.

Example: names, amounts, etc.

 An  Event Concept is a Domain Asset that represents a type of change used to draw the temporal boundaries of Conceptual Entitys.

Examples:

- order placing

- order delivery

- birth

- death

An  Individual Concept is an instance of a Concept.

For example, "John Doe" is an instance of the "Person" Concept.

An  Individual State Concept is an instance of a  State Concept.

Example:

- "John Doe employe at Concoso Corporation in 2010" is a state of the "John Doe" Individual Concept.

A  Period that is an arbitrary period of time.

Examples:

- 20 Minutes - the set of all 20 minute periods

- 3.345 Nanoseconds- the set of all 3.345 Nanosecond periods.

- Quater - the set all all quaters : 1 quater of 1492, 3rd quater of 2056, ....

- 7000 Years- the set of all 7000 Year period.

A  Period Type that is an arbitrary period of time.

 Period Type is used to define the period on which Time Events or Event Concepts can occur.

Examples:

- Year - the set of all years (..., -5000, ... 50, ..., 800, ..., 1000, ..., 1789, ..., 1946, ..., 2050, ...)

- 3.345 Nanoseconds- the set of all 3.345 Nanosecond periods.

- Quater - the set all all quaters : 1 quater of 1492, 3rd quater of 2056, ....

- 7000 Years- the set of all 7000 Year period.

A  State Concept is Conceptual Entity which is a state of another Conceptual Entity.

Example:

- Employee is a state of Person. Its temporal boundaries are "hiring" and "departure" (see Event Concept).

A  State Concept Type is Class of Conceptual Entity which is a state type of another Class of Conceptual Entity.

Example:

- Employee is a state of Person. Its temporal boundaries are "hiring" and "departure" (see Event Concept).

In a given  Dictionary Vocabulary, a  Concept Designation is a terminological representation that associates a Term to its corresponding Conceptual Element.

Example:

The term "Effeil Tower" is used in English to designate the metalic tower located near the Seine, constructed by Gustave Effiel

A  Conceptual Entity is the representation of any tangible or intanglible resource or state of such resource that is of interest to understand the enterprises, its data, resources and activities.

A  Conceptual Entity is either a Concept or a State Concept.

Example:

- "Person" is a  Conceptual Entity of type Concept, Its temporal boundaries are is birth and its death (see Event Concept).

- "Employee" is a  Conceptual Entity of type State Concept: it is a state of a "person". Its temporal boundaries are its hiring and its departure.

A  Dictionary Block is an  Dictionary Block involved in informative descriptions of the enterprise.

 Dictionary Blocks range from Domain Assets to Concept Domain Maps..

Domain Assets are managed in Data Catalogs.

A  Domain Asset is the representation of any type of tangible or intanglible resource, or its respective state, that is critical for comprehending an enterprise, including its data, resources, and activities.

Similar to any Information Asset, a  Domain Asset can be classified into three categories:

1)  Conceptual Entitys denote entities that can change over time.

2) Event Concepts embody the temporal boundaries associated with Conceptual Entitys.

3)  Concept Propertys represent immutable characteristics of Conceptual Entitys.