Semantic Fidelity Canonical Glossary

Semantic fidelity describes whether meaning survives transformation. It names the gap between language that remains fluent, coherent, or technically correct and language that still preserves the intent, nuance, context, and meaning of the original.

This is the canonical glossary for the Semantic Fidelity Project and the current reference vocabulary for the project. It defines the core terms used to describe how meaning is preserved, distorted, or degraded across compression, summarization, retrieval, rephrasing, AI generation, recursive language systems, and modern information environments.

Download: Semantic Fidelity Canonical Glossary 2026 (PDF)

Note: Earlier semantic fidelity glossaries remain available as part of the project archive, but they should be treated as formative documents. Where terminology, emphasis, or conceptual structure differs, this canonical glossary supersedes earlier versions.

Related Framework Concepts

Download: Semantic Fidelity Project Archive Index (PDF)

A reading-order index for the Semantic Fidelity Project, covering semantic fidelity, semantic drift, AI compression, fidelity decay, meaning loss, and constraint collapse.

Semantic Fidelity Resources:

• Semantic Fidelity Canoncial Definition
• Visual Frameworks
• Preserving Meaning AI Paper Series
• Failure Modes in LLM Systems
• Drift Detection in AI Systems

Core Concepts:

• Reality Drift
• Optimization Trap
• Constraint Collapse
• Recursive Compression