Second Life Glossary

- Second Life (SL): A virtual world/game where you can interact with others and the worlds they've created. Sometimes called a "metaverse", me and my friends liken it more to "playing dolls", or a "virtual chat room with avatars".
- Linden Labs (LL): The parent company of Second Life. LL staff in-world have the last name "Linden".
- Avatar: Your in-game character. Many people use SL avatars as a way to roleplay. Most commonly a human, but the only limit is your imagination!
- Alt: An alternate account, as a single person can have multiple SL accounts. However, an alt is not needed to make multiple avatar looks, as you can have countless avatar looks on one account.

- Grid: The entire in-game world of Second Life.
- In-world: Refers to a location within the SL grid, similar to saying "in-game" for other games.
- Sim: Any given location, similar to an instance/room/city/town/etc. in other virtual worlds.
- Region: Similar to sim, but refers specifically to a full square on the world map (65,536m^2).
- Parcel: A smaller piece of land delineated in a sim or region. Can be as small as 16m^2. Commonly used for personal homes and stores.
- Mainland: A set of in-world continents maintained by Linden Labs themselves, connected to one another by various navigable routes rather than existing independently like private regions.
- Landmark: A saved point of a location visited in-world. Useful for places you frequent or do not want to forget about. Locations can be landmarked by starring them in your URL bar, or sharing them between users.
- Sandbox: A location in SL with the explicit purpose of opening boxes, building, and testing items. Very helpful areas for beginners due to lower lag as well.

- Rez: Verb; To spawn an item in your inventory in-world by clicking and dragging it from your inventory to the ground around you. Often used for decorating or to open boxes containing purchased items. Not enabled in all areas, but available at sandboxes.
- Prim: Short for "primitives". Refers to simple 3D models that have existed in SL since the beginning. Still used today for things like flexi objects.
- Flexi: Refers to prims given the "flexible path" checkmark. These prims have physics, and are commonly used for things like long hair, waving flags, and billowing clothes.
- Sculptie: Prims that have been shaped by a sculpt map image into more complex 3D models. Not commonly used today, having been replaced with mesh.
- Mesh: 3D models made by 3rd-party tools (IE. Blender or Maya) that are brought into SL. After their integration in the 2010s, Mesh has become the standard for nearly all aspects of avatar creation and decor.
- Copy (C): Object permission for the owner to make multiple copies. Opposite is No-copy (NC), wherein the item has a single copy. Gacha items are often no-copy.
- Modify/Mod (M): Object permission for the owner to edit the item. Opposite is No-modify/no-mod (NC), wherein the item cannot be edited. Some objects appear as no-mod in your inventory, but are actually modifiable, with a no-mod script inside.
- Transfer/Trans (T): Object permission for the owner to distribute the object. Opposite is No-transfer/no-trans (NT), wherein the item cannot be given out freely. Most sold objects in SL are no-transfer.
- Full permission/Full perm: An object with Copy/Modify/Transfer permissions. Often sold with developer kits for creators to use in their own projects.
- Land Impact (LI): The amount of "space" so to speak that an object takes up when rezzed on a parcel of land. NOT the same as prims; Land impact is what is used to calculate how much land is used up nowadays.
- Script: A code document written in LSL (Linden Scripting Language). When placed in items, scripts can do countless things, including rotate objects, change their texture, give off particles, and more.

- Bakes-on Mesh (BOM): The skin and texture system used by most avatars in SL today. Things like tattoos, makeup, and other markings can be layered to create a cohesive look on your avatar.
- Appliers: Various items that "apply" a texture to an avatar or avatar component, typically via script. An outdated form of texturing in most cases, having been supplanted by Bakes-on Mesh.
- Alpha/Alpha layer: A layer that can be added to your avatar in order to make parts invisible. Useful for hiding body parts that clip (ie. Hands clipping through worn gloves). Also used as a verb (alpha-ing/alpha out) to make parts invisible through an avatar hud.
- Animation Override (AO): Typically a hud attachment that will replace your default avatar animations, such as idle poses, walking, running, etc. Sometimes needs to be turned off when sitting on furniture with animations built-in.
- Bento: Refers to Project Bento, an ongoing project implementing more fluid, precise animations within Second Life, such as articulate hands and facial expressions. Bento animations are the current standard for animations much like mesh is for 3D.
- Gesture: An item that can be activated to play an animation, play a sound, send a message into nearby chat, or all combined. Can be triggered by / commands or hotkeys, and typically are used for humorous effect.
- Demo: A free demonstration of a full product, typically with emblems that say 'demo' on it. Used to try out items before you purchase the full version, such as to see if clothing fits or if decor matches your build.

- Linden (L$): The in-world currency of Second Life. Approximately 2.5k L$ = $12 USD as of May 2024. Obtainable through direct purchasing, selling goods and services, and tipping in-world. Can be converted into real world currencies.
- Marketplace (MP): The browser-based store for Second Life items. Sorted by category and censorship rating. Takes a 10% commission on listings.
- Premium/Premium Plus: A paid account in SL, granting users a parcel of land, weekly stipend, and name changes, among other things. Premium Plus is more expensive, and grants further priviledges. Neither are necessary to own land or have fun in SL, though!
- Freebie: A free (0$L) item, typically listed on the Marketplace. The 1$L variant of this is called a dollarbie.

- Relog: Verb; To restart/re-login you SL viewer. Useful if you experience glitches of some kind.
- Jelly doll: The amorphous grey avatar stand-ins for exceedingly complex avatars when maximum complexity is turned down.
- Poofing: Verb; To leave an area, or log out. Typically used when the person doesn't announce they are leaving.
- Windlight: The lighting settings for SL, including a sky texture and various color schemes.
- Linden water: The water that begins at a given region's sea level, and has a number of unique properties that allow for boat sailing and other scripts to activate.