Each attached dictionary has its own button on the Bookshelf. An attached dictionary can be either
active or
inactive
. An abbreviated word or phrase.
Active dictionary is a dictionary used by Lingvo when translating your queries and performing full-text search. To make a dictionary active, press on its button on the Bookshelf.
Annotations contain comments to dictionaries created by the user. It is a text file whose extension has been changed to .ann. The name of the annotation file must be the same as the name of the dictionary for which it has been written. Annotation files are optional.
A dictionary added to the Lingvo system via the Languages & Dictionaries...
dialog.
Each attached dictionary has its own button on the Bookshelf. An
attached dictionary can be either active or
inactive.
The Bookshelf is a toolbar containing all dictionaries available for the selected pair of languages, either active or inactive.
Card - a window displaying a card of an active dictionary corresponding to a word or a phrase entered in the Edit Line.
Collocation is a recurrent word combination.
A box in the Lingvo main window where you type or paste a word you wish to translate.
Full-text search is a search for a word or a phrase in the whole text of all cards in all the active dictionaries.
The process of building an index. An index is built for every newly added dictionary, so the added dictionary entries could be used in full-text searches.
Labels are used to provide additional information about a word. Lingvo has part-of-speech labels, usage labels, register labels, etc. If you drag your mouse cursor over a label, a question mark will appear. Click on the question mark to see the full text of the label.
Lingvo Agent 
is a small program that is initiated at
system start-up and that starts Lingvo when you try to translate a
word for the first time.
Hot-keys for Quick translation of words and phrases from external applications.
A dictionary written in only one language. Monolingual dictionaries include conceptual dictionaries, dictionaries of abbreviations, dictionaries of phrases, dictionaries of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, toponyms, explanatory dictionaries, thesauri, etc.
A card becomes permanent when you click 
. Unlike
temporary cards, a permanent card will remain open until you close
it manually.
Quick translation is the process of translating words/phrases by pressing a combination of hotkeys (Magic keys) rather than typing them in the Edit Line.
Source language is the language from which you are translating. The source language is chosen from the left-hand drop-down list on the Lingvo Language bar.
To change the source language, click on the arrow of the drop-down list and select a new language. Depending on which language you choose, the set of dictionaries on the Lingvo Bookshelf and the Word List in the Main window will change accordingly.
Sub-card
A sub-card is a card contained within a main card.
System dictionary - a dictionary supplied as part of the Lingvo distribution package.
Target language is the language into which you are translating. The target language is chosen from the right-hand drop-down list on the Language bar.
A temporary card closes when you click the Close Temporary Cards button. By default, all cards you open are temporary.
Uninflected
Parts of speech that have only one word form, e.g. adverbs.
Any dictionary in Lingvo-compatible format (with .lud extension) created by the user, downloaded from the Internet or acquired from other sources.
The overall Word List includes all the words from all active dictionaries. The words are in alphabetical order.