Today, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the authority for world standards in electrical and electronic engineering. One important function of the 41 National Committees of the IEC, represented in more than 200 specialised committees, is the compiling of the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary (IEV) containing over 100,000 terms in nine languages, with definitions in French, English and (since 1970) Russian. The IEV forms the basis for international communication in electrotechnical fields and as such, is an invaluable tool for science, trade and industry. The constant evolution of electrotechnical terminology calls for the introduction of new terms or the elimination of outdated nomenclature: this is an essential task of the IEC in keeping abreast of developments taking place in industry.