---
uid: FAQ.Misc.Glossary
title: Common Terminologies / Glossary
---

# Glossary

## Common Types

* A **Guild** ([IGuild]) is an isolated collection of users and
channels, and are often referred to as "servers".
	- Example: [Discord API](https://discord.gg/jkrBmQR)
* A **Channel** ([IChannel]) represents a generic channel.
	- Example: #dotnet_discord-net
	- See [Channel Types](#channel-types)
	
[IGuild]: xref:Discord.IGuild
[IChannel]: xref:Discord.IChannel

## Channel Types

### Message Channels
* A **Text channel** ([ITextChannel]) is a message channel from a
Guild.
* A **DM channel** ([IDMChannel]) is a message channel from a DM.
* A **Group channel** ([IGroupChannel]) is a message channel from a
Group.
	- This is rarely used due to the bot's inability to join groups.
* A **Private channel** ([IPrivateChannel]) is a DM or a Group.
* A **Message channel** ([IMessageChannel]) can be any of the above.

### Misc Channels
* A **Guild channel** ([IGuildChannel]) is a guild channel in a guild.
	- This can be any channels that may exist in a guild.
* A **Voice channel** ([IVoiceChannel]) is a voice channel in a guild.
* A **Category channel** ([ICategoryChannel]) (2.0+) is a category that
holds one or more sub-channels.

[IGuildChannel]: xref:Discord.IGuildChannel
[IMessageChannel]: xref:Discord.IMessageChannel
[ITextChannel]: xref:Discord.ITextChannel
[IGroupChannel]: xref:Discord.IGroupChannel
[IDMChannel]: xref:Discord.IDMChannel
[IPrivateChannel]: xref:Discord.IPrivateChannel
[IVoiceChannel]: xref:Discord.IVoiceChannel
[ICategoryChannel]: xref:Discord.ICategoryChannel

## Emoji Types

* An **Emote** ([Emote]) is a custom emote from a guild.
	- Example: `<:dotnet:232902710280716288>`
* An **Emoji** ([Emoji]) is a Unicode emoji.
	- Example: `👍`

[Emote]: xref:Discord.Emote
[Emoji]: xref:Discord.Emoji

## Activity Types

* A **Game** ([Game]) refers to a user's game activity.
* A **Rich Presence** ([RichGame]) refers to a user's detailed
gameplay status.
	- Visit [Rich Presence Intro] on Discord docs for more info.
* A **Streaming Status** ([StreamingGame]) refers to user's activity
for streaming on services such as Twitch.
* A **Spotify Status** ([SpotifyGame]) (2.0+) refers to a user's
activity for listening to a song on Spotify.

[Game]: xref:Discord.Game
[RichGame]: xref:Discord.RichGame
[StreamingGame]: xref:Discord.StreamingGame
[SpotifyGame]: xref:Discord.SpotifyGame
[Rich Presence Intro]: https://discordapp.com/developers/docs/rich-presence/best-practices