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IATE (Interactive Terminology for Europe) is the multilingual terminology database of the EU institutions and bodies. This guide is for translators, researchers and research administrators who need to look up an EU term in several languages. It shows how access differs by user type, how the search interface behaves and how to download term data. Facts below come from IATE’s own About and online-help pages, read on 2026-11-07.
What is the IATE database?
IATE describes itself as the multilingual terminology database of the EU institutions and bodies. The project was launched in 1999, and EU institutions have used it since 2004. Translators and linguists make up most of its user community. Entries are organised by subject domain, and the About page lists fields such as law, environment, human rights, medicine, transport, agriculture, chemistry, intellectual property and data processing.
It is a terminology resource, not a bibliographic or citation database: you search it to find how a concept is named in each EU language, not to find articles. Terminology records are a form of metadata about concepts and their approved names.
Who runs it and what does it cover?
IATE is operated for the EU institutions and bodies. Coverage is multilingual and multidisciplinary, following the range of EU work. The About page does not publish entry or language counts, so none are given here.
How to search IATE
- Open the search page at iate.europa.eu. Searching does not require signing in; the sign-in option is on the site itself.
- Choose the source language before typing. Autocomplete starts after five or more characters and only when a single source language is selected.
- Type the term in the search field and press the search button or Enter.
- Pick the target language. The target selector offers “All EU” and a “Show more” option for non-EU languages.
- Avoid “Any language” as the source unless needed: the help page notes it is resource-intensive.
- Use “Search by ID” to retrieve specific entries; it accepts up to 100 entry IDs at once.
- Choose “Open expanded search” to apply filters. The last 10 queries are kept and can be saved.
The help pages also document search by collection, search by URL, advanced search, batch search, results display (standard and interpreters’ view) and exports.
Access tiers and language limits
| User | Source languages per search |
|---|---|
| Not logged in | One source language, plus the pseudo-languages LA and MUL |
| External logged-in user | Up to six source languages |
Downloading terminology
IATE offers dataset download in two formats: TBX (the ISO 30042:2019 TermBase eXchange standard) and CSV. You can filter by collections, domains, term type, reliability and evaluation. Exported metadata includes the entry ID, domains, language codes and terms. A generated dataset stays downloadable for 7 days. The feature is available to logged-in users, and the help page asks users to read the conditions for use of downloaded datasets before reusing them.
Strengths and limits
- Strength: a single point of access to EU institutional terminology across many languages and subject fields.
- Strength: structured export in an ISO standard exchange format (TBX), suited to loading into terminology tools.
- Limit: anonymous searching is restricted to one source language; searching several source languages needs an account.
- Limit: downloads need a login and are subject to the conditions of use.
- Limit: it holds terminology, not full-text law or literature (see the alternatives below).
Alternatives and companion resources
| Resource | What it is (per its own pages) | Run by |
|---|---|---|
| IATE | Multilingual terminology database | EU institutions and bodies |
| EuroVoc | Multilingual, multidisciplinary thesaurus covering EU activities; 27 languages (24 official EU languages plus Albanian, Macedonian and Serbian) | Publications Office of the European Union |
| EUR-Lex | Access to EU law: treaties, legal acts, consolidated texts, case-law and the Official Journal; language selector lists 24 official languages | Publications Office of the European Union |
For literature search rather than terminology, see our guides to the Gale database, the LISTA database and Crossref.
Frequently asked questions
What is the IATE database used for?
Looking up how a concept is named across EU languages. It is used by EU institutions and mostly by translators and linguists.
Is IATE free to use?
Searching is available without logging in, with limits (one source language). Downloading datasets requires being logged in.
Can I download the IATE database?
Yes, as TBX (ISO 30042:2019) or CSV, after logging in. Generated files remain available for 7 days, subject to the conditions of use.
How is IATE different from EUR-Lex?
IATE holds terminology entries; EUR-Lex publishes EU legal documents.
Sources (read 2026-11-07)
- IATE, About: https://iate.europa.eu/about
- IATE online help, Main search: https://online-help.iate.europa.eu/iate-search/main-search/
- IATE online help, Download: https://online-help.iate.europa.eu/iate-download
- EuroVoc, Publications Office of the EU: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/dataset/-/resource?uri=http://publications.europa.eu/resource/dataset/eurovoc
- EUR-Lex: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/content/help/faq/intro.html
