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In 1991, Terminology for Grazing Lands and Grazing Animals was published with the objective of ‘developing a consensus of clear definitions of terms used in the grazing of animals.’ This first effort involved primarily organizations and agencies within the USA but included representation from New Zealand and Australia. It was the intent from the beginning to expand this to a truly international effort at a later date. At the XVII International Grassland Congress (IGC), held jointly in New Zealand and Australia in 1993, a resolution was passed at the final business meeting as follows: ‘It is recommended that the International Grassland Congress endorse the continuing development of uniformity of terminology for grazing systems and grazing management, and that the Forage and Grazing Terminology Task Force report progress at the XVIII Congress.’ During the XVIII IGC, held in Canada in 1997, a new Terminology working group, chaired by Mort Kothmann, was formed to begin discussions regarding the first revision of this publication. As was the objective from the beginning, this first revision was to be international in scope and a focused effort was made to include broad international representation and expertise.Preliminary work by the working group was accomplished during the next few years. In 2000, Terminology became the first project to be jointly supported by the IGC and the International Rangeland Congress (IRC) and a new Terminology Committee was jointly appointed by Bob Clements (Chair, IGC Continuing Committee) and Maureen Wolfson (President, IRC Continuing Committee). Work of the Terminology Committee progressed leading up to the first joint meeting of the IGC and the IRC in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia in the Peoples Republic of China. At the meeting in 2008, resolutions were passed by both the IGC and the IRC requesting that Terminology for Grazing Lands and Grazing Animals be completed and presented at both the IX IRC in Argentina in 2011 and the XXII IGC in Australia in 2013. With the completion of this revision in 2010, the wishes of both congresses will be fulfilled.As with the first edition of Terminology, our objective has been to develop a consensus of terms and definitions to ensure clear international communication regarding grazing lands and grazing animals. Terms included here have relevance to both domesticated and wild grazing animals. It is intended that these terms enhance communication in education, science, industry and production and that they become the standard for use in publications. It has been our goal to include terms that are relevant specifically to grazing lands and grazing animals and to present these, where appropriate, in a hierarchy that shows the relationships among such terms.