This document specifies the sequence of characters to be used in the alphabetical ordering of multilingual terminological and lexicographical data (terms, term elements, or words) represented in the Latin alphabet. Character sets of languages represented in the Latin alphabet are taken into account insofar as terminological or lexicographical data have been recorded. Character sets used in internationally standardized transliteration into Latin script are also taken into account.

The sequence of alphabetical characters given is intended for multilingual purposes only and is not intended to affect the alphabetical order of any specific language.

The main part of this document specifies letter-by-letter ordering of character strings. Annex A treats word-by-word ordering, which is a widely used alternative to this system.

Annex B gives two additional rules that can be useful for lexicographical and terminological ordering.

Annex C gives ordering rules for chemical names. Annex D lists the character repertoire of the Latin alphabet. Annex E lists languages using the Latin alphabet.

Annex F gives alphabetical sequences derived from the sequence specified in this document for a number of languages that use the Latin alphabet.

Annex G gives a formal description of the rules laid down in the main part of this document conforming with ISO/IEC 14651.