We did our best to include the terms correctly, however, those colleagues who are more familiar with the languages are kindly asked to send their comments to Johan Dragt, (@cbs.nl).

Given the ISI’s international scope, the need for an affordable multilingual glossary of statistical terms was recognised. This tradition can be traced back to the ISI’s publication, in co-operation with Oliver & Boyd Publishers, the Dictionary of Statistical Terms, edited by M.G. Kendall and W.R. Buckland since 1957. After several editions, this effort was successfully continued by F.H.C. Marriott. The fifth edition was published in 1990. Yadolah Dodge edited the sixth edition with the title: "The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms 2003" and contained some 3,500 terms.

Dictionaries of statistical terms already exist in many languages. However, most of them only have translations to and from English. For certain specialised fields in statistics, dictionaries with more than two languages also exist. The excellent work by Rasch et al (1994) gives terms from Biometry in 6 languages. Unfortunately, such books are rather costly and therefore hardly affordable to individual statisticians. Especially scientists from the developing countries are prohibited from spending the large sums required to acquire such books, however useful they may be.

As ISI has set itself the goal of further emphasising its strong commitment to the improvement of statistics and statistical sciences in developing countries, the need for an affordable glossary has become more evident. The developments in computers and computer software have induced us to broaden our scope. The idea surfaced of compiling an electronic database from which several products could emerge. These products could range from simple printed glossaries with a limited set of terms in just a few languages to CD-ROM based programmes for the complete set in many languages. Also, WWW based products written in HTML and accessible via Internet have now been realised.

Mr. Johan Dragt (@cbs.nl) of the ISI Senior Executive Corps volunteered as Project Leader and has, since 1993, compiled a large amount of information in more than 25 languages for the Project. For this online beta version 21 languages are available. He has constructed a database that contains over 3,500 statistical terms.

The present version of the ISI Multilingual Glossary of Statistical Terms is a continuation of the Internet usage and is intended to demonstrate the versatility of the information gathered, as well as providing a means for correcting and expanding the translations provided here with the help of the users of the Glossary.

Work on the database itself is continuing: Specialists from several countries are being consulted for checking the translations. Without aiming for completeness, we should mention the valuable services rendered by Robin Ellison (London, U.K.), Antonio Giusti (Pontelungo, Italy), L.H. Erhard Hruschka (Hamburg, Germany), René Padieu (Paris, France), Jelke Bethlehem, and Gerrit Stemerdink (The Hague, The Netherlands).

The ISI eagerly welcomes further co-operation on this Project:

• in adding new languages; and

• in receiving corrections or additions from the users.

On request, the ISI Permanent Office can provide the list of terms in database format (@cbs.nl). We express the hope that this ISI Multilingual Glossary of Statistical Terms will be useful for the statistical community.

Daniel Berze

Director ISI

Sources and Acknowledgements:

General literature:

Kendall, M.G. and Buckland W.R., (eds.) A dictionary of statistical terms Oliver & Boyd Publishers, on behalf of the ISI 1957

Marriott, F.H.C., (ed.) A dictionary of statistical terms 5^th edition, Longman Scientific & Technical, on behalf of the ISI 1990

Afrikaans

Contact: Faans Steyn, Potchefstroom, South Africa, e-mail: skdhss@puknet.puk.ac.za

Arabic

Contact:  Prof. Dr. Hilal Al-Bayyati, e-mail: Hilalabod@yahoo.com, diwan@aitrs.org  

Catalan

Contact: Evarist Giné, e-mail: gine@math.uconn.edu  

Tomŕs Aluja-Banet, e-mail: tomas.aluja@upc.es  

Carles Cuadras, e-mail: carles@bio.ub.es  

Josep Fortiana, e-mail: fortiana@ub.edu   

Guadalupe Gómez Melis, e-mail: lupe.gomez@upc.edu

Chinese

Contact: Gary Steven Jones, Washington, e-mail: gjones@imf.org

Danish

Contact: Birger Madsen, Statistics Denmark, Copenhagen, e-mail: bms@dst.dk

Peter Linde, Statistics Denmark, e-mail: pli@dst.dk

Literature:

Nordisk Statistisk Nomenklatur, Pohjoismainen tilastosanasta, Finland, 1974

Dutch

Contact: Gerrit Stemerdink, ISI, The Hague, e-mail: @cbs.nl

Literature:

C.A.W. Citteur: Statistische termen Engels-Nederlands, intern publication CBS Netherlands

Rasch, D., Tiku, M.L. and Sumpf D., (eds.) Elseviers Dictionary of Biometry, Elsevier Science BV, 1994

Estonian

Contact: Ene-Margit Tiit, e-mail: ene.tiit@ut.ee

Liina-Mai Tooding, e-mail: liina-mai.tooding@ut.ee

Euskara

Literature:

Termino Estatistikoen Hiztegia, Eusko Jaurlaritze-Gobierno Vasco

Farsi

Contact: Mr Assad Monajemi, Teheran

Finnish

Contact: Kari Djerf, Statistics Finland, e-mail: Kari.Djerf@stat.fi

Mrs. Esa Läärä , University of Oulu, e-mail: esa.laara@oulu.fi

Literature:

Nordisk Statistisk Nomenklatur, Pohjoismainen tilastosanasta, Finland, 1974

French

Contact: Mr. René A. Padieu, Paris Cédex, e-mail: rene.padieu@insee.fr

Literature:

M.G. Kendall and W.R. Buckland: A Dictionary of Statistical Terms Supplement, Oliver and Boyd, 1960

Rasch, D., Tiku, M.L. and Sumpf D., (eds.) Elseviers Dictionary of Biometry, Elsevier Science BV, 1994

Dictionnaire de Termes Statistiques, Eusko Jaurlaritze-Gobierno Vasco

Inter American Statistical Institute Vocabulaire Statistique, Washington, D.C. 1960

German

Contact: Contact: Mrs Karin Lüdemann, Wiesbaden, e-mail: karin.luedemann@destatis.de ,

Prof. Dr. Ing. Peter-Th. Wilrich, Berlin, e-mail: wilrich@wiwiss.fu-berlin.de

Literature:

M.G. Kendall and W.R. Buckland: A Dictionary of Statistical Terms Supplement, 

Oliver and Boyd, 1960 Rasch, D., Tiku, M.L. and Sumpf D., (eds.) Elseviers Dictionary of Biometry, Elsevier Science BV, 1994

Greek

Contact: Michael Tsagris, e-mail: mtsagris@yahoo.gr 

Hungarian

Contact: Dr. István Csahók, Budapest

Literature:

István Csahók: Magyar-Angol-Oroz Statisztikai Szótár, Budapest 1990

Icelandic

Contact: Mrs Sigrún Helgadóttir, Reykjavik, e-mail sigrun.h@simnet.is

Literature:

Helgi Ţórsson, Hólmgeir Björnsson, Sigrún Helgadóttir, Snjólfur Ólafsson Orđasafn úr tölfrćđi, Reykjavík 1996

Italian

Contact: Dr. Antonio Giusti, Pontelungo (Pt), e-mail: giusti@ds.unifi.it

Prof. Rosa Giaimo, Palermo, e-mail: giaimo@mbox.unipa.it  

Literature:

M.G. Kendall and W.R. Buckland: A Dictionary of Statistical Terms Supplement

Oliver and Boyd, 1960 Rasch, D., Tiku, M.L. and Sumpf D., (eds.) Elseviers Dictionary of Biometry, Elsevier Science BV, 1994

Lithuanian

Contact: Antanas Buracas, e-mail: buracas@centras.lt

Norwegian

Contact: Prof.I. Thomsen. Oslo

Literature:

Nordisk Statistisk Nomenklatur, Pohjoismainen tilastosanasta, Finland, 1974

Persian-Farsi

Literature:

Statistical Research Center: SRC Dictionary: http://src.ac.ir/dic2.htm

Polish

Contact: Ms. Barbara Domaszewicz, e-mail: b.domaszewicz@stat.gov.pl

Literature:

M.G. Kendall and W.R. Buckland Slownik terminów staystycznych, Warszawa 1986

Tadeusz Walczak Slownik terminów staystycznych angielsko-polski, Warszawa 1997

Portuguese

Contact: Prof. Carlos Daniel Paulino, e-mail: dpaulino@math.ist.utl.pt

Literature:

Inter American Statistical Institute Vocabulário Estatística, Washington, D.C. 1960

Romanian

Contact: Rodica Albu, e-mail: ralbu@uaic.ro

Russian

Serbian