Glossary
Domain words, plain English
The terms you meet in a registrar account, one line each.
- Registrar
- The company you buy and renew a domain through. Your account there is where the domain is managed.
- Registry
- The organization that runs an ending such as .com. Registrars sell names from the registry.
- DNS
- The internet address book. It turns a name into the server and email settings behind it.
- Nameservers
- The servers that answer DNS questions for your domain. Changing them moves where DNS is managed.
- Renewal
- Domains are rented by the year. Renewing keeps the name in your account.
- Transfer lock
- A setting that blocks the domain from being moved to another registrar without you unlocking it first.
- Auth code
- A one-time code used to move a domain between registrars. Treat it like a password.
- Privacy service
- Hides your personal contact details from public lookup records where the registrar offers it.
- 301 redirect
- A permanent forward from one address to another, often used for extra domains or old pages.
- Subdomain
- A name in front of your domain, like shop.yourname.com, created in DNS.
- HTTPS padlock
- The lock icon in the address bar. It means the connection to the site is encrypted. Many hosts set it up for you.