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completely a linguistic category). Secondly, problems solved by
terminology applications are mainly non-linguistic. Finally, the
methods used in terminology activities are also heterogeneous and
miscellaneous, lying far outside the scope of linguistics. Within
terminological studies methods of fundamental sciences are
evolved, – such as methods of linguistics, philosophy, cognitive
science, methods of formal, dialectic and mathematical logic, as
well as methods of the theory of classification and semiotics.
The large number of characteristics shared by lexicology and
terminology allows us to treat them as closely related fields,
because:
 both deal with words.
 both have a theoretical and an applied side.
 both are concerned with dictionaries.
The overlap between the two is not total, however. Some
people consider one (terminology) to be a part of the other
(lexicology), while others claim the two can be differentiated.
Some of the characteristics that can be listed as being distinctive
are (a) the domain; (b) the basic unit; (c) the purpose; and (d) the
methodology.
If lexicology deals with all the words of a language,
terminology only focuses on the words belonging to either a
specific field (such as physics, chemistry, anthropology or
drawing) or to a professional activity (such as business, industry,
sports, etc.). The domains of lexicology and terminology, then, do
not coincide: the domain of lexicology is wider and includes that
of terminology. By this criterion terminology would be a part of
lexicology.
Lexicology deals with the study of words, whereas
terminology deals with terms. Terms and words are similar and
different at the same time. A word is a unit described by a set of
systematic linguistic characteristics and has the property of
referring to an element in reality. A term is a unit with similar
linguistic characteristics used in a special domain.

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