# OE-0002: Core Vocabulary

**Status:** Draft
**Version:** 0.2.0-draft
**Depends on:** OE-0001 (Foundation)
**Phase:** The Bedrock Phase

## Overview

Engineers across disciplines share a conceptual vocabulary. Open Engineer documents that vocabulary's grammar — the precise definitions, relationships, and boundaries of terms that carry specific meaning within this standard.

All terms defined here must be used consistently across all specification documents, RFCs, and reference materials. The authoritative editorial rules governing terminology are defined in `reference/editorial-principles.md` (see: Enduring Concept Test, Single Responsibility).

## Terms

### Bedrock (reality basis)

Within this standard, the physical world and its constraints — materials, physics, the behavior of systems under load — which does not change regardless of an engineer's model of it. Where ambiguity with geotechnical usage is possible, the phrase "reality basis" is used as an unambiguous synonym. (Source: OE-0001)

### The Thread

The model of knowledge continuity through which engineering understanding passes between practitioners over time. The thread has defined properties: it requires deliberate maintenance, carries understanding rather than just information, has measurable integrity, and breaks when context is lost. (Source: OE-0001)

### Engineering Context

The structured record of the reasoning behind an engineering decision, including the observations, alternatives, constraints, and verification that produced it. The minimum required structure is defined in OE-0003. (Source: OE-0003)

### Observation

A verifiable encounter with reality, either direct (through measurement or experiment) or corroborated (independently confirmed by multiple traditions or domains). See OE-0004 for the full taxonomy. (Source: OE-0004)

### Corroborated Observation

An observation reported by a source outside direct engineering practice that has been independently confirmed by engineering evidence or by independent confirmation across multiple traditions. (Source: OE-0004)

### Survey

A structured assessment of the current state of engineering understanding on a specific topic, aggregating observations, identifying patterns, and flagging gaps. (Source: OE-0005)

### Understanding

A contextualized model of reality derived from observation and organized through survey. Understanding is the state an engineer reaches when they can explain not only what a system does, but why it was designed that way, what alternatives were considered, and what trade-offs were made. Understanding is distinct from information: information is the raw material; understanding is the structured relationship between information, context, and reality. (Source: OE-0006)

### Verification

The process of testing understanding against reality. Understanding is provisional until verified. See OE-0007. (Source: OE-0007)

### Decision

A choice made within a specific context, informed by observation and bounded by constraints, preserved as a structured record. See OE-0008. (Source: OE-0008)

### Stewardship

The obligation to maintain and improve engineering knowledge for future practitioners. Stewardship is the transmit discipline: the responsibility to pass knowledge forward in better condition than it was received. See OE-0009. (Source: OE-0009)

### Inheritance

The act of receiving and engaging with engineering knowledge from prior work. Inheritance is the receive discipline: the responsibility to actively understand what has been passed down, not merely to possess it. See OE-0010. (Source: OE-0010)

### Spiral Re-evaluation

The process of returning to previously examined questions with additional experience or evidence, producing progressively deeper understanding. (Source: OE-0001)

### Translation

The process of converting an observation from any domain into precise engineering language. Translation extracts the observation while discarding the surrounding ideology. The authoritative rules governing translation are defined in `reference/editorial-principles.md`. (Source: OE-0001, `reference/editorial-principles.md`)

### Amendment

The disciplined, verified extension or modification of the standard's body of knowledge through the change workflow defined in OE-0011. (Source: OE-0011)

### Enduring Concept

A concept identified by its function rather than by any technology that currently expresses it. Enduring concepts survive technology change. The test for enduring-concept compliance is defined in `reference/editorial-principles.md`. (Source: `laws/engineering-laws.md`, `reference/editorial-principles.md`)

## Applicable Laws

This document is governed by all Engineering Laws defined in `laws/engineering-laws.md`.