Computer-assisted translation

Computer-assisted translation, computer-aided translation, or CAT is a form of translation wherein a human translator translates texts using computer software designed to support and facilitate the translation process.
Computer-assisted translation is sometimes called machine-assisted, or machine-aided, translation.
Some advanced computer-assisted translation solutions include controlled machine translation (MT). This type of technology is widely known amongst professional translators and terminologists and also available to any individual translators who wish to invest in such technology. Higher priced MT modules generally provide a more complex set of tools available to the translator, which may include terminology management features and various other linguistic tools and utilities. Carefully customized user dictionaries based on correct terminology significantly improve the accuracy of MT, and as a result, aim at increasing the efficiency of the entire translation process.
Some advanced computer-assisted translation solutions include controlled machine translation (MT). This type of technology is widely known amongst professional translators and terminologists and also available to any individual translators who wish to invest in such technology. Higher priced MT modules generally provide a more complex set of tools available to the translator, which may include terminology management features and various other linguistic tools and utilities. Carefully customized user dictionaries based on correct terminology significantly improve the accuracy of MT, and as a result, aim at increasing the efficiency of the entire translation process.
Computer-assisted translation is a broad and imprecise term covering a range of tools, from the fairly simple to the more complicated. These can include:
Spell checkers, either built into word processing software, or add-on programs;
Grammar checkers, again either built into word processing software, or add-on programs;
Terminology managers, allowing the translator to manage his own terminology bank in an electronic form. This can range from a simple table created in the translator's word processing software or spreadsheet, a database created in a program such as FileMaker Pro or, for more robust (and more expensive) solutions, specialized software packages such as LogiTerm, MultiTerm, Termex, etc.
Dictionaries on CD-ROM, either unilingual or bilingual
Terminology databases, either on CD-ROM or accessible through the Internet, (such as TERMIUM Plus or Grand dictionnaire terminologique from the Office québécois de la langue française)
Full-text search tools (or indexers), which allow the user to query already translated texts or reference documents of various kinds. In the translation industry one finds such indexers as Naturel, ISYS Search Software and dtSearch.
Concordancers, which are programs that retrieve instances of a word or an expression and their respective context in a monolingual, bilingual or multiligual corpus, such as a bitext or a translation memory.
Bitexts, a fairly recent development, the result of merging a source text and its translation, which can then be analyzed using a full-text search tool or a concordancer.
Project management software that allows linguists to structure complex translation projects, assign the various tasks to different people, and track the progress of each of these tasks.