Terms related to natural language processing · 3.6.11
natural language understanding
the extraction of information by a functional unit from text or speech given in natural language, plus a description of both the input and what it represents
What this term settles
The term looks ordinary until two teams use it differently. The entry removes that room by naming the thing, its inputs and its limits in one sentence.
Who it binds
The entry has no shall in it. Its force comes from use: once natural language understanding appears in a procedure or a supplier term, this is the meaning the reader is entitled to rely on.
What to do in your practice
Write the entry into the glossary the firm actually reads, not a shelf document. Check the two artefacts where the word does most work and note any sentence that stretches the meaning.
Evidence an auditor or regulator asks for
- A controlled vocabulary entry for natural language understanding with the citation 3.6.11, an owner and a review date.An auditor can check that the term is controlled rather than assumed.
- A product description that names the language task and the input and output it handles.Shows natural language understanding in use in the artefact the firm relies on, not only in a glossary.
- An evaluation set with the language, the domain and the scoring rule.The product description mixes the task with the model, so a change of model reads as a change of task.
Common gaps this page catches
- natural language understanding is used in the language task in the product description without a written definition, so two teams can mean different things.
- A supplier uses the same word with a different boundary and nobody has recorded the difference.
What to prepare before the amendment lands
Brief the owners who use natural language understanding most often, then ask each to return one artefact that shows the entry in use. File the artefacts against the register row.
How to test it here
Take one live artefact rather than a template, find the sentence or field where natural language understanding is used, and put this page beside it. Record the answer, the artefact and the date, because that record is the evidence and a glossary entry on its own is only an intention.
What this page does not claim
The page does not reproduce the standard, certify the firm or predict the wording the amendment will use; it states natural language understanding at the claim level "definition" and stops where the public record stops.
Common questions
- What does natural language understanding mean in ISO 22989?
- the extraction of information by a functional unit from text or speech given in natural language, plus a description of both the input and what it represents
- What evidence should we keep for 3.6.11?
- A controlled vocabulary entry for natural language understanding with the citation 3.6.11, an owner and a review date. A product description that names the language task and the input and output it handles.
- Is natural language understanding a requirement?
- No: natural language understanding is a definition or clause of a terminology standard, and it becomes binding only when a firm writes it into a policy, a contract or a procedure, or when another standard incorporates it.
Related units
Source. ISO/IEC 22989:2022, Clause 3.6.11, Terms and definitions. Open the ISO public entry. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/en/#iso:std:iso-iec:22989:ed-1:v1:en
ISO catalogue record 88145, the amendment status, stage and dates. Catalogue record 74296, the base standard.
Claim level: definition. The definition is in the public preview. This page states it in our own words and does not reproduce the text.
Last updated: 2026-10-21 · Markdown version · Check your vocabulary