An ICE match, or in-context exact match, is a translation memory match where both the segment text and its surrounding context are identical to the context stored previously. In CAT tools and localization workflows, ICE matches are considered highly reliable because they verify not only the source segment but also its position, neighboring segments, and often formatting, reducing the need for manual review.
ICE matches appear in CAT-tool match statistics, translation memory management, and project reporting during pre-translation and post-editing. Project managers use them to identify segments that can be reused with minimal linguistic checking, while translators see the context confirmation in the match pane before accepting or editing the corresponding target text.
A common mistake is to confuse ICE matches with ordinary exact matches, resulting in inflated match rates and underestimating review effort. If surrounding context was not stored correctly, ICE matches may be reported when position or neighboring segments actually differ, causing incorrect re-use of target text in a new layout or product flow.
For creative and consumer content the failure mode is flatness, not inaccuracy — and flatness passes an accuracy check. Terms here also carry technical constraints (reading speed, character budgets) that are part of the brief.
Angel Translation locks terms like this into a project terminology base before expert review begins, so the same source term resolves to the same target term across every document in a submission — and stays consistent in the next revision. See the 8-step AI + expert workflow.
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