League of Legends Terms Glossary: 100+ Words and Acronyms Every Player Should Know
A scannable A-to-Z League of Legends terms glossary decoding 100+ words and acronyms so you can understand chat, guides, and callouts fast.
Jump into any game and the chat fills up with shorthand: mia mid, ward drag, ff at 15. This League of Legends terms glossary is here to decode all of it. Whether you just finished the tutorial or you're a veteran shaking off years of rust, understanding the lol terminology meaning behind guides and teammate callouts is genuinely half the battle. Below you'll find 100+ words and acronyms grouped by theme — economy, combat, map, and meta-slang — so you can find a term fast and understand it in context, including the classic beginner question: what does cs mean in League?
How to use this glossary
Don't try to memorize everything at once — that's a fast track to nothing sticking. Skim the four tables below, and when a word you don't recognize shows up mid-game, come back and look it up. The terms are ordered roughly by how often you'll hear them, and I've kept the definitions short so you can scan. A few words wear more than one hat depending on context; where that matters, I've called it out.
What does CS mean? Economy and farming terms
Gold wins games, and almost all of your gold comes from farming — the steady work of killing minions and monsters. If you take one thing from this whole guide, make it this: hitting minions for their last bit of health is worth more than most kills you'll ever chase.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| CS / Creep Score | The count of minions and jungle monsters you've killed. Higher CS means more gold and items. |
| Last-hit | Landing the killing blow on a minion so you actually get its gold — timing your attack, not spamming it. |
| Farm | The act of killing minions and camps for gold and XP. 'Just farm' means play safe and stack CS. |
| Wave / Minion wave | The group of minions that marches down each lane. |
| Cannon / Siege minion | The big minion that spawns every few waves and is worth extra gold — prioritize last-hitting it. |
| Freeze | Holding the wave in one spot near your tower so you farm safely and starve the enemy. |
| Slow push | Letting your minions pile up slowly so the wave crashes hard into the enemy tower later. |
| Shove / Fast push | Clearing the wave as fast as possible to force it toward the enemy tower, often to recall or roam. |
| Bounce / Reset | When a big wave crashes into a tower and the wave state 'resets' back toward the middle. |
| Back / Recall | Channeling to return to base and spend your gold. 'B' in chat means someone is backing. |
| Spike / Power spike | A moment your champion gets noticeably stronger — hitting level 6, finishing a key item. |
| Component / Item component | The cheaper parts that build into a finished item, so you can shop with awkward gold amounts. |
| Gold lead | Being ahead of your opponent in total gold, usually from CS, kills, and objectives. |
| GPM | Gold per minute — a rough measure of how efficiently you're earning income. |
| XP / EXP | Experience, which levels up your champion and unlocks ability ranks. |
| Perfect CS | Last-hitting every single minion in a wave — a benchmark laners chase in practice tool. |
LOL terminology: combat and fighting words
This is the language of trades and teamfights. The words below describe how champions do damage and lock each other down, which is exactly what guides mean when they call something a 'burst mage' or tell you to 'peel for your carry.'
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Poke | Chipping away at an enemy's health from range without committing to a full fight. |
| Burst | Deleting a target with a fast combo before they can react. Assassins live on burst. |
| DPS | Damage per second — sustained output over a fight, the ADC's job. |
| Trade | Exchanging damage with your laner. A 'good trade' means you dealt more than you took. |
| All-in | Committing every ability and summoner spell to secure a kill — no backing out. |
| Kite / Kiting | Dealing damage while moving away so you hit the enemy but they can't hit you back. |
| Orb-walk / Attack-move | Weaving an auto-attack and a step in one motion to kite cleanly. A core marksman skill. |
| CC / Crowd Control | Any effect that limits enemy movement or actions — stuns, roots, slows, knockups. |
| Hard CC | Full lockdown: stuns, roots, knockups, suppressions. It fully removes control. |
| Soft CC | Softer effects like slows and blinds that reduce but don't remove control. |
| Root / Snare | You can't move but can still attack and cast. |
| Stun | You can't move OR act for the duration. |
| Knockup | Airborne crowd control that can't be cleansed and interrupts channels. |
| Peel | Using your CC and body to protect a carry from divers. |
| Dive | Attacking an enemy under their own tower, eating tower shots to get the kill. |
| AA | Auto-attack — your basic right-click attack. |
| Proc | Triggering an on-hit or passive effect (from 'process'). |
| AD / AP | Attack damage / ability power — the two main damage stats. |
| True damage | Damage that ignores armor and magic resist entirely. |
| Squishy / Tank / Bruiser | Durability archetypes: fragile, unkillable, and durable-but-still-hits. |
| Hook / Grab | A skillshot that pulls a target toward the caster and usually starts a fight. |
| Combo | A specific sequence of abilities and autos that maximizes a champion's output. |
Map, objectives, and positioning
These terms are about where the game is won. Objectives and vision decide most games above the very lowest ranks, so being able to parse 'grouping for Baron' or 'they have deep vision' matters more than knowing any combo.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Lane | The three paths — top, mid, bot — where minions fight and laners farm. |
| Jungle | The wooded space between lanes, full of neutral monster camps the jungler farms. |
| River | The diagonal waterway splitting the map, home to the major objective pits. |
| Gank | A surprise attack on a lane, usually by the jungler, to score a kill. |
| Countergank | Showing up to a gank to flip it, turning the ambush against the enemy. |
| Roam | Leaving your lane to help another one, common for mid laners and supports. |
| Ward / Vision | Placing an object that reveals an area. Vision is how you avoid ganks and picks. |
| Deep ward | A ward placed inside the enemy's territory to track their movements. |
| Fog of war | Any unrevealed part of the map you currently can't see. |
| Dragon / Drake | The river monster that grants stacking team buffs when killed. |
| Baron / Nashor | The powerful late-game monster that buffs your minions and pushing power. |
| Herald | The early-game objective that charges into towers to break them. |
| Smite | The jungler's summoner spell used to secure camps and steal objectives. |
| TP / Teleport | A summoner spell that channels to move across the map to a minion or ward. |
| Split push | Pressuring a side lane alone to force the enemy to respond while your team plays elsewhere. |
| Backdoor | Sneaking to destroy structures or the Nexus while the enemy is distracted. |
| Invade | Entering the enemy jungle early to steal camps or catch someone out. |
| Plates / Tower plates | The gold-granting turret plating that falls off in the first several minutes. |
| Inhibitor / Inhib | The structure behind a base's towers; breaking it spawns super minions. |
| Nexus | The core structure in each base — destroy it and the game is won. |
| Tower aggro | The turret targeting you after you attack an enemy champion near it. |
| Pit | The walled area in the river where Dragon and Baron spawn. |
League acronyms list: meta, roles, and chat slang
This last group is the social layer — the roles, the balance talk, and the rapid-fire chat you'll see in every lobby. Some of it is useful information, some of it is people tilting. Knowing the difference keeps your own head clear.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| ADC / Bot carry | The ranged marksman who scales into a late-game damage dealer, usually bottom lane. |
| Support | The bot-lane partner who protects, engages, and provides vision instead of farming. |
| Meta | The currently dominant strategies and champions — 'the way the game is being played.' |
| Buff / Nerf | A patch change making something stronger (buff) or weaker (nerf). |
| OP / Broken | Overpowered — a champion or item that feels unfairly strong. |
| Comp / Team comp | The combination of five champions and how their strengths fit together. |
| Engage / Disengage | Starting a fight versus tools that let you safely back out of one. |
| Frontline / Backline | The durable champions up front versus the fragile carries behind them. |
| Scaling | How much stronger a champion gets over time. 'Scales well' means dangerous late. |
| Tempo | Who has the initiative to do things on the map right now. |
| Macro / Micro | Big-picture map decisions (macro) versus moment-to-moment mechanics (micro). |
| Pick | Catching an isolated enemy and killing them to open the map. |
| Teamfight / TF | A full five-on-five clash, usually around an objective. |
| Skirmish | A smaller, messier fight involving only some of each team. |
| Diff | 'Difference' — usually blaming a losing lane, as in 'mid diff.' Often just tilt. |
| Inting / Int | Intentionally feeding — throwing the game on purpose by dying repeatedly. |
| Feed / Feeding | Dying a lot and making an enemy stronger, whether on purpose or not. |
| KDA | Kills / Deaths / Assists — a quick, imperfect snapshot of a game. |
| MMR / Elo | The hidden rating that decides your matchmaking and rank gains. |
| LP | League Points — what you gain and lose within a ranked division. |
| Smurf | An experienced player on a lower-ranked account. |
| OTP / One-trick | Someone who plays almost exclusively one champion. |
| Throw | Losing a game you had clearly won, usually via a greedy mistake. |
| Clutch | A game-saving play made under pressure. |
| Tilt / Tilted | Playing worse because you're frustrated. The silent killer of ranked climbs. |
And the pure chat shorthand — the stuff you'll type or read in the first ten seconds of a game and again during every fight:
- GLHF — good luck, have fun. The standard opener.
- GG — good game, typed at the end (or, less kindly, mid-game when someone's giving up).
- MIA / SS — an enemy is missing from their lane, so play carefully.
- OMW — on my way, usually from a jungler heading to gank.
- B — I'm backing to base; care — be careful, danger nearby.
- FF — surrender vote, as in 'ff at 15' (the earliest you can concede).
- Reset — everyone back off, recall, and regroup after a fight.
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Guide FAQ
What does CS mean in League of Legends?
CS means creep score: the number of minions and neutral jungle monsters you've killed. Each one gives gold and experience, so a higher CS almost always means a stronger champion. When people ask what does cs mean league players are really asking how to measure farming — aim for last-hitting cleanly rather than just standing in lane.
What does 'diff' mean in League chat?
'Diff' is short for difference, and it's used to point at a losing matchup — 'top diff' means the top laner is being beaten. Be careful with it. It's usually said in frustration, not as real analysis, and blaming a lane out loud rarely helps anyone play better.
What's the difference between hard CC and soft CC?
Hard CC fully removes an enemy's control — stuns, roots, knockups, and suppressions stop them from moving or acting. Soft CC only weakens them, like slows and blinds that reduce movement or accuracy without taking away control. Hook champions like Blitzcrank and Thresh open with hard CC precisely because it guarantees the follow-up.
What do 'inting' and 'feeding' mean?
Feeding is dying repeatedly and making an enemy stronger, whether by accident or not. 'Inting' is short for intentional feeding — throwing the game on purpose — and it's a reportable offense. In practice players sometimes use both words to complain about a rough game, so don't take every accusation literally.
How do I memorize this league acronyms list faster?
Don't try to memorize the whole league acronyms list in one sitting. Bookmark this glossary, pick up terms as they appear in your games, and focus first on the economy and map groups since those change your decisions the most. Watching a match with the vocabulary in front of you cements it far faster than flashcards ever will.
Where can I use these terms to actually improve?
Knowing the words is step one; applying them is step two. When you review a game, narrate it in this vocabulary — 'I got picked here, I lost tempo there, my CS fell off after the gank.' Naming your mistakes precisely is what turns a fuzzy loss into a fixable one.