What it is
Glossaries are reusable libraries of rules that tell CHAMELAION what to keep as-is, how to translate specific terms, and how to pronounce them in text-to-speech. Use them to lock in product names, legal phrases, or preferred wording so every video stays on brand, every time, no matter the language👍.
Available on: Silver, Gold, and Enterprise plans.
What you can do
✅ No Translation, keep selected words in their original form, for example, brand names or SKUs.
✅ Forced Translation, define the exact target wording for a source term, for example, English “Sales team” → German “Vertriebsmannschaft.”
✅ Pronunciation, set how a word should be spoken for a specific language, with an audio preview, for example, “CHAMELAION” in German = “KAMELÄON.”
✅ CSV import and export, build entries in Excel, then upload or download a glossary to edit.
✅ Manage at scale, create one master glossary or many smaller ones per product line, language or project
Before you start
Create your glossary before translating for the smoothest flow.
When adding entries, select the Source and Target languages from the dropdowns.
For CSV, use the sample CSV from the UI or upload your own glossary as a CSV file.
Keep in mind: language codes must match the dropdown options😉.
For more information, take a look at our list of language codes 💯.
Create a glossary, step by step.
Go to the Glossaries tab, click New Glossary, and give it a name.
No Translation, add words that must never be translated, use + or Upload CSV.
You can also download our sample CSV here👍.
Click Continue to the second step: Forced Translation. Here, add rows with Source language, Source word, Target language, Target word, or upload a CSV.
Click Continue to Pronunciation, pick a Target language, type the pronunciation, and preview with the play icon. CSV upload works here too🤝.
Click Create. Your glossary appears in the Glossary tab, in the Dubbing Studio, or right before translation in the drop-down menu.
From the Glossary Tab: Download your Glossary as a CSV file by clicking the download button or delete it by clicking the trash icon👍.
Use a glossary in your workflow.
One-Click Video Translation
Before clicking translate, select your glossary.
Run the translation, your rules apply automatically.
Dubbing Studio
Pick a glossary from the controls.
For each affected segment, click Generate audio on the target segment. This applies to any glossary changes, including cases where the written translation would change; no need to press Retranslate.
Wait for the generation to finish, then play the clip in the Studio timeline to hear the updated audio.
Tip: move the playhead to the segment you updated by clicking it, pressing play, and confirming the wording and pronunciation. If you tweak the glossary again, click Generate audio on the relevant segments, then play the clip to review 🎧
CSV format, quick guide
Download the sample CSV from each step to see the exact column order.
Fill rows using the same language names and codes you see in the dropdowns.
You can import for No Translation, Forced Translation, and Pronunciation independently.
Best practices
Keep legal and sensitive terms in No Translation to avoid accidental changes.
For names that are written one way but said another, use Pronunciation for natural voiceovers.
Use multiple glossaries for different brands or teams, and select the appropriate one for each project.
Any time you adjust glossary rules mid-project, retranslate the affected text if needed, then generate audio to refresh the voice output.
Manage and clean up
Open the Glossaries tab any time to download or delete a glossary using the trash-can icon on the card.
You can switch the active glossary on a project whenever you need. Remember to regenerate audio to apply changes.
If you upload a CSV file to an already existing Glossary, the Glossary will not be overwritten but extended with the additional words. Duplicates will, of course, not be added. That way, you have a clean, holistic version of your Glossary 👍.
FAQ
Does a glossary affect existing renders automatically?
Not until you update the content in the Dubbing Studio
Can I use more than one glossary at once?
Not for the exact translation, no. Choose a single glossary per translation run or Studio session. You can maintain multiple glossaries and switch between them as needed.
Will Lip-Sync respect glossary rules?
Yes, once the written text and generated audio conform to the glossary rules, Lip-Sync will align with the updated audio.