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GLOSSARY PRINT

Modified on: Fri, 28 Apr, 2023 at 12:17 PM

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There is a lot of terminology surrounding Polkadot and the blockchain in
general. In this article, we try to cover the most basic terms that you may come
across in articles, videos, or your communication with us. 




Some of these terms have variances, meaning different resources use slightly
different names for the same thing, and we mention these, too, so you know what
is being referred to in all cases.




Finally, the definitions given here have been simplified somewhat. For precise
technical definitions and the full Polkadot glossary, check the Wiki Glossary.

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ACCOUNT




Your account is where your tokens are stored. These tokens can be DOT, KSM, or
any other token on a Substrate chain because an account can be used on almost
all chains built on Substrate. You can read more about that here. 




On a low level, it's represented by your public key, but each chain has its own
address format and the address on each chain is what you use to receive funds in
your account on that chain. That's why the terms account and account's
address (or simply address) actually refer to two different things. You can
learn more about Substrate accounts and the various address formats in this
video.







ACCOUNT REAPED




An account is reaped when its balance drops below the existential deposit (ED).
Any remaining balance in the account is burned (lost forever), and the account
is deactivated. To reactivate a reaped account, you need to send at least the ED
to it.




a.k.a.

 * Account deactivated







BONDING AND STAKING




These terms are usually used interchangeably, but they mean slightly different
things. Bonding is the action of locking up your tokens and is usually performed
to stake with them. Staking is using these locked tokens to participate in the
security of the network either by validating or nominating validators.




The reverse actions are called unbonding and unstaking, although the second term
is not used broadly. We use the term "chilling" instead of "unstaking", and as
mentioned above, chilling doesn't also unbond your tokens.




ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

Unbonding takes 28 days on Polkadot and 7 days on Kusama.







CHILLING




An account chills when it stops nominating or validating. Chilling could be
voluntary or forced. A validator may be chilled if they are offline for a
prolonged period of time (at least 12 hours on Polkadot).




ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

Chilling doesn't unbond your tokens. It simply signals the intention to stop nominating or validating.







EXTRINSIC




An extrinsic is a piece of information from the outside world that changes the
state of the blockchain. The most common example of an extrinsic is the transfer
extrinsic that sends tokens from one account to another. 




This fundamental extrinsic would be called a transaction on other blockchains,
like Bitcoin, but extrinsics are so much more. Extrinsics can do a lot of other
things besides transferring tokens, like bonding and unbonding, nominating,
voting on governance, and even updating the chain itself!




An extrinsic is identified uniquely by its ID, which is the block number
followed by the index of the extrinsic in that block, for example, 6953825-1.




a.k.a.

 * Transaction




ℹ️ GOOD TO KNOW

The extrinsic hash is not a unique identifier. You can read more about this here




FAST-UNSTAKING




If a nominator has not been exposed to any active validator for the last
unbonding period, "fast-unstaking" allows to instantly unbond tokens.







GENERIC SUBSTRATE ADDRESS




The generic Substrate address refers to an address format that starts with 5 and
isn't the address format of any specific chain (although some chains use this
format as their native address format), but rather a generic representation of
an account that theoretically represents the account on all chains. 




a.k.a.

 * Substrate address
 * Substrate address format
 * Substrate account (technically, this means an account that can be used on
   Substrate chains)




ℹ️ INFO

We've bolded "theoretically," because although you can use the Substrate address to send DOT, KSM, or any other token to your account, and it would "land" in the correct chain, most wallets and exchanges don't support this and they send only to the specific address format of the respective chain.







MNEMONIC PHRASE




The mnemonic phrase of your account is the list of 12 words that you are given
whenever you create a new account. These words can restore your account in case
you lose access to it. 

This is an industry standard that all non-custodial wallets adopt, although a
mnemonic phrase generated in one wallet won't necessarily produce the same
account on another, at least not without additional information. Also, some
wallets, like Ledger, use 24 words instead of 12.




The mnemonic phrase is the "key to the kingdom". It gives full access to your
account, which is why you should never share it with anyone and keep it only on
paper, in a safe and secret location. You can learn more about protecting
yourself from scams and hacks here.




a.k.a.

 * Mnemonic seed
   
 * Seed (official term)
 * 12-word phrase
 * Recovery phrase







POLKADOT EXTENSION




By this term, we refer to the browser extension available for Chromium-based
browsers (Chrome, Brave, Edge) and Firefox. The extension allows the management
of accounts and interaction with any site and dApp that is built on Substrate.
It's a gateway to the wider Polkadot ecosystem.




However, you cannot send funds or take other actions directly from the
extension. For this, the extension needs to interact with a UI, like the
Polkadot-JS UI.




a.k.a.

 * Polkadot-JS extension
 * Polkadot {js} browser plugin or extension (official term)
 * Polkadot browser extension







POLKADOT-JS UI




The user interface at https://polkadot.js.org/apps/ that can be used as a wallet
for your accounts on all Substrate chains, as a block explorer, to issue
extrinsics directly, query the chain, check on governance proposals, and so much
more. It provides the full functionality Polkadot and Substrate chains have to
offer.




a.k.a. (also known as)

 * polkadot.js (technically, this refers to the collection of JavaScript tools
   for Polkadot that the UI is built upon)
 * polkadot.js.org
 * Polkadot-JS Apps UI (official term)




PRIVATE KEY




A private key is a hexadecimal number that is used to sign extrinsics. It's the
private counterpart of the private-public key pair, and as the name suggests, it
needs to be kept safe and secret because it's the only thing needed to prove
ownership over an account. It's derived from the mnemonic phrase (along with the
public key) but unlike the mnemonic phrase, you'll seldom encounter it or
interact directly with it.




a.k.a.

 * Raw seed (official term)
   




PROTOCOL




This is a quite broad term that refers to the rules of the chain, be it
Polkadot, Kusama, or another Substrate chain. To put it differently, a protocol
defines how the chain works and what happens in each case. This is what ensures
the result of an extrinsic is deterministic.




a.k.a.

 * Runtime (official term)
   







PUBLIC KEY




The public key is the low-level representation of your account. It's a
hexadecimal number and the public counterpart of the private-public key pair.
This means that it can safely be shared as it doesn't give access to your
account. However, you'll almost never have to use it directly. Instead, in
almost all cases, you'll interact with your account's address. That's what
you'll use to have funds sent to your account.







SUBSTRATE




Substrate is a blockchain framework. It's a set of tools that can be used and
customized to create new blockchains easily. Polkadot, Kusama, and all other
chains, parachains, and testnets that are included in Polkadot-JS UI are built
on Substrate.

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Disclaimer: We always strive to provide you with the best support we can and we
take all care to ensure that our instructions are accurate and concise. However,
following these instructions properly, as well as the general management of your
accounts and funds, is ultimately your responsibility. Web3 Foundation cannot be
held liable for any accidental loss of funds or any other damage you might
incur.




RELATED ARTICLES

 * Polkadot-JS UI: How to Sign a Transaction
 * Polkadot Extension: How to Sign a Transaction
 * Ledger: How to Sign a Transaction on Ledger
 * Parity Signer: How to Sign a Transaction
 * I Sent Funds to the Wrong Address!
 * Polkadot Vault: How to Sign a Transaction
 * I Sent Funds to a Validator instead of Staking Them!
 * Polkadot-JS UI: How to Receive DOT to My Account
 * How do Parachain Slot Auctions Work?
 * What are the Benefits and Risks of Staking on Polkadot?

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