League of Legends Glossary: LoL Terms & Abbreviations

League of Legends abbreviations

In LoL matches, a lot happens quickly, so you need great reaction time, and writing full, grammatically correct sentences doesn’t help. That’s why summoners shorten almost everything. But for beginners already confused about the game, abbreviations are just one more thing to worry about (been there myself, googling what “x” means in LoL countless times).

So, we hope this list makes any beginner’s journey in League at least a little bit easier.

Abbreviation
Full term
Abbreviation
Full term
%HP
Percentage of Health
GW
Grievous Wounds
AA
Auto-attack
HP
Health Points
AA Reset
Auto-attack reset
HP5
Health Regeneration per 5s
ACE
All champions exterminated
IE
Infinity Edge
AD
Attack Damage
Inhib
Inhibitor
ADC
Attack Damage Carry
IP
Influence Points
AFK
Away from keyboard
JG/JGL
Jungle/Jungler
AH
Ability Haste
KDA
Kills, Deaths, Assists
AoE
Area of Effect
KS
Kill Steal
AP
Ability Power
LoL
League of Legends
AP Pen
Ability Power Penetration
LP
League Points
ARAM
All random all mid
LS
Life Steal
AS
Attack Speed
MB
My bad
B
Back/Recall
MIA
Missing in action
BE
Blue Essence
Mid
Middle lane
Bot
Bottom lane
MMR
Matchmaking Rating
BRB
Be right back
MP
Mana Points
CC
Crowd Control
MP5
Mana Regeneration per 5s
CD
Cooldown
MR
Magic Resist
CDR
Cooldown Reduction
MS
Movement Speed
CPC
Classic Pass Coin
OOE
Out of Energy
Crit
Critical Strike
OOM
Out of Mana
Crit Chance
Critical Strike Chance
OP
Overpowered
Crit DMG
Critical Strike Damage
OTP
One-trick pony
CS
Creep Score
P
Passive
DoT
Damage over time
Prio
Priority/lane priority
DPS
Damage per second
PvE
Player versus environment
EP5
Energy Regeneration per 5s
PvP
Player versus player
FB
First blood
RP
Riot Points
FF
Forfeit
SS
Enemy missing
FS
First strike
Supp / Sup
Support
GA
Guardian Angel
TP
Teleport
GG
Good game
Ult
Ultimate
GJ
Good job
WP
Well played
GLHF
Good luck, have fun
XP
Experience points
League of Legends
champion roles and classes explained

League of Legends has five main team positions and several champion classes. A position determines where a player starts the match, while a champion class describes their combat style. For example, a Mage can play Mid or Support, while a Fighter can play Top or Jungle.

NOTE:

Meanings in this section are explained for almost all cases in normal LoL matches, but there are exceptions. They apply when the team uses advanced strategies or troll picks, for instance.

The 5 LoL champion positions

Top, Jungle, Mid, ADC, and Support are the 5 champion positions in League.

Term Meaning Top laner Fighter or Tank champs assigned to play in the top lane.

Jungler

Fighter, Tank, or Assassin champs assigned to farm neutral monsters and control objectives in the jungle (helps teammates through ganks).

Mid laner Mage or Assassin champs assigned to play in the mid lane.

ADC/ bot Marksman champs assigned to play in the bot lane alongside Support.

Support

Support champs assigned to play in the bottom lane alongside ADC.

Champion classes and subclasses

There are only 5 champ positions, but classes and subclasses are another thing. There’s much more.

Term Meaning Assassin Fragile melee champs with great mobility who help your team by eliminating high-priority enemies. Their goal is to kill 1-2 enemies and get out alive.

Fighter (Bruiser)

Short-ranged champs who excel at dealing and surviving damage. They thrive in long fights, but limited range makes them vulnerable to ranged attacks and CC.

Juggernaut

Fighter champs that are tanky and high-damage, but lack mobility and CC.

Diver

Fighter champs that are more mobile than Juggernauts, but not as durable. They dive into the enemy team/under the Tower to eliminate targets, enduring the damage.

Tank

Melee champs with a massive Health bar that can absorb a lot of damage and CC during fights. Their main goal is to be a frontline shield for fragile allies, not to get kills.

Mage

Ranged champs that rely on abilities to deal damage. They’re fragile (low Armor, Health), but have CC and AoE damage. Positioning is the most useful skill for them.

Burst Mage

Deal a lot of damage quickly with ability combos. Their range and CC are average.

Battle Mage (Warlocks)

Deal DoT at closer range. They trade range for defensive capabilities.

Artillery Mage

Deals damage from long range. They excel at objective control and poking enemies before fights, but their self-peel is limited.

Marksman

Ranged champs that excel at dealing sustained damage through AAs. They can stay pretty safe while kiting enemies but are generally fragile and rely on AD/AP items.

Support (Controller)

Defensive champs that help allies with healing, protection, CC, buffs, and vision.

Enchanter Supp

Keeps allies alive with heals, shields, and buffs. Low damage early on, but scales well.

Engage Supp

Initiates fights through CC, diving into enemy teams and locking down targets.

Peel Supp Stays close to ADC to block damage and push enemies away.

Damage Supp

Casts long-range spells to poke enemies and control the lane with Magic Damage.

Skirmishers (Duelists)

Mobile melee champs that excel in smaller fights and rely on offensive builds.

T he names in brackets are just another word players use.

Other champion terminology in the League of Legends glossary Term Meaning Melee A champion that attacks enemies at very close range.

Ranged A champion that can attack enemies from a distance.

Flex pick

Champs that work in a role they aren’t meant for/multiple positions.

Counterpick

Champ selected based on the enemy team’s champion’s weaknesses.

Blind pick

Champion selected without knowing the opposing lane matchup.

Main A player’s preferred or most-played champion.

OTP

Player who focuses almost exclusively on mastering one champion.

Champion pool The group of champions a player picks regularly.

Caster

A champion that casts (uses, activates) an ability, effect, etc.

Laning, farming, and wave management glossary

Any LoL match begins with laning and farming, so these are must-know for anyone.

Term Meaning Farm Kill minions or monsters to earn gold and XP.

Last hit Deal the killing blow to a minion and earn gold.

Minion wave Group of allied or enemy minions moving down a lane.

Wave management Control minion waves to gain lane advantages.

Freeze Keep the minion wave near a chosen position.

Slow push

Build a large allied minion wave by slowly killing enemy minions.

Fast push Quickly kill enemy minions to push your wave forward.

Crash Push a minion wave into the enemy turret.

Trade Exchange damage with an enemy champion in lane.

Roam Leave your lane to help teammates elsewhere.

Prio

Ability to push your wave first and move before your opponent.

Reset

Recall and return to the map after buying items/restoring resources.

Map and objective terminology for League of Legends Summoner’s Rift has 3 lanes separated by the jungle, with structures and monsters throughout the map. Understanding League of Legends glossary terms for map-related stuff makes it easier to follow team calls about defending towers, taking dragons, and pushing toward the enemy base.

Map locations and structures Term Meaning Summoner’s Rift Main three-lane map used for standard 5v5 LoL matches.

Lane One of the three paths connecting the two teams’ bases.

Top lane The upper lane in Summoner’s Rift.

Mid lane

Middle lane and the shortest direct route between the two bases.

Bot lane Lower lane of Summoner’s Rift.

Jungle

Areas between lanes containing neutral monsters and jungle paths.

River

Area separating the two sides of the map, connecting the Baron and Dragon pits.

Brush/Bush

Terrain that hides you from enemies outside it unless they have vision.

Base

Area containing a team’s Nexus, inhibis, fountain, and turrets.

Fountain

Starting and respawn area to recover health, mana, and purchase items.

Inhib

Structure at base that spawns the enemy’s super minions in its lane when destroyed.

Nexus

Structure that must be destroyed in the enemy base to win (minions spawn here).

Turret/Tower

Structure that starts attacking enemy units that first enter its range.

Outer Turret

First turret encountered in a lane (grants limited vision for the team).

Inner Turret Defensive turret located behind an outer turret.

Inhib Turret Turret protecting a team’s inhibitor.

Nexus Turret One of the two defensive towers that guard a team’s Nexus.

Alcove

A small, curved “bay” in the outer wall of the top and bot lanes.

Pit

Enclosed area of the river where powerful neutral objectives spawn.

League of Legends jungle glossary

Junglers spend much of the early game clearing jungle camps, ganking lanes, and preparing for neutral objectives. This also means that some terms in the League of Legends glossary are created specifically for the jungle.

Term Meaning Objective Valuable map target, such as a turret, Dragon, Baron, or inhibitor.

Objective steal

Taking an objective just before the opposing team secures it.

Objective control

Strategy of securing map targets (not losing them to the enemies).

Buff

Temporary beneficial effect gained from an ability, item, or objective.

Jungle camp

Neutral monsters in the jungle that grant gold and XP if killed. You’ll find Wolves, Raptors, Krugs, and Gromps.

Invade Enter the enemy jungle to attack or steal jungle camps.

Counterjungle

Kill or steal neutral monsters from the enemy team’s jungle while they’re stealing yours.

Jungle pathing

The route a jungler follows between camps, lanes, and objectives.

Full clear Kill all jungle camps in a planned jungle pathing.

Leash

Help a jungler damage the first camp before returning to lane.

Smite

Summoner spell used to damage monsters and secure objectives.

Dragon Soul

Permanent team bonus earned by killing the Elemental Dragons.

Baron Buff Temporary team buff gained from killing Baron Nashor.

Jungle monsters Monster Explanations Rift Scuttler (Scuttle Crab)

Neutral monster in the river (one on each side) that doesn’t fight back, but flees. Killing it grants gold, XP, vision, and MS.

Blue Buff

Buff after killing Blue Sentinel (CDR, AH, Mana and Energy Regen).

Red Buff

Buff after killing Red Brambleback (AAs slow, DoT, Health Regen)

Dragon/Drake

Powerful neutral monsters that grant bonuses based on the Drake’s Element your team slays (5 Elemental Drakes exist).

Elder Dragon

Powerful late-game objective that grants a 2.5min combat buff.

Baron Nashor

The most powerful neutral monster in the jungle, boosting AD, AP, recall, and minion power to the team that kills it.

Rift Herald

Neutral monster in the Baron Nashor pit that lets you summon the Eye of the Herald after killing it to help damage enemy turrets.

Void Grubs

Monsters in the Baron pit that grant extra damage on turrets if killed.

Map movement terminology for League of Legends Moving around the map isn’t easy, and understanding what’s going on makes it even harder.

Term Meaning Gank Attack an enemy in lane by arriving from another part of the map.

Countergank Arrive to help an ally who is being ganked.

Camping/camp

Staying nearby to target one enemy, ganking and attacking them repeatedly.

Clear Kill jungle camps or minion waves.

Cross-map play Getting an objective away from the enemy team’s interest.

Rotation/rotate

Move to another part of the map to help allies / clear objectives.

Objective trade Give up one objective while securing another.

Backdoor Sneaking in to destroy an enemy base unexpectedly.

Split push

One player moving to a side lane, killing minions and turrets along the way while the teams are elsewhere.

Siege Sitting under an enemy turret and trying to take it down.

Bounty

Gold reward for killing enemies who are ahead in gold and kills.

Skirmish

Small fight (2v2 or 3v3) where both sides don’t use all their power.

Combat and teamfight glossary for League of Legends Teamfights involve many champions using their abilities together. Players use the following terms to describe how fights begin, which enemies to attack, and how to protect teammates.

Fighting and positioning Term Meaning Teamfight Fight involving multiple champions from both teams.

Engage

Start a fight by attacking or using an ability to initiate combat.

Disengage

Break away from a fight or prevent enemies from continuing it.

Re-engage

Start fighting again after disengaging or a temporary retreat.

Frontline Durable champs positioned ahead of allies to absorb damage.

Backline

Damage dealers and fragile champs positioned behind the frontline.

Peel

Protect an ally from enemy attacks with CC, shields, or healing.

Dive Aggressively attack an enemy in a dangerous position.

Tower dive

Go under the enemy’s tower to aggressively attack the target.

Focus

Concentrate attacks and abilities on one specific enemy champion.

Target priority

Choosing which enemy champ/unit to attack first during a fight.

Burst Deal a lot of damage within a short time.

Kiting/kite Attack enemies while moving away to avoid damage.

Orb walking

Moving between AAs to reposition without delaying the next attack.

Gap close

Anything that quickly gets you from your current to target destination.

Flanking/flank

Positioning that lets you attack enemies from the side or behind.

Chase Pursue an enemy who is trying to escape.

Bait

Tricking an enemy into making a bad decision (e.g., wasting Ulti).

Pick

Catch and attempt to kill an out-of-position / isolated enemy.

ACE

All of the enemy team’s champions are killed at the same time.

Outplay

Using skills, reflexes, positioning, and mind games to beat an enemy.

Wombo combo Awesome combo of AoE ultimates from different champs.

Execute

Dying to a non-champ unit without giving the enemy gold, or a high-damage ability designed to finish off low-health targets.

Dodging/dodge Avoiding a skillshot by moving your champ out of the way.

Skillshot

An ability that a player manually aims and fires in a specific direction.

Ability terminology Term Meaning Passive Champion’s ongoing effect/ ability that automatically provides some sort of bonus without requiring input.

Q / W / E Keys used for casting a champion’s three basic abilities.

Ultimate

Champion’s most OP ability (R key) learned at level 6 in a match.

Cooldown Time before an ability, spell, or item can be used again.

Combo Sequence of attacks and abilities used together.

Skillshot

Ability that requires aiming (can miss its intended target).

Point-and-click Targeted ability activated by selecting an eligible unit.

Cast time

Delay between activating an ability and its effect taking place.

Channel

An ability that works only while casting/activated (like DoT).

Animation cancel

A technique that cuts an animation short and lets you act sooner.

AA Reset

Trick to skip the end of an AA animation and instantly attack again.

Stack A counter that tracks repeated actions to grant bonuses.

Skill ceiling

The max level of skill one can reach to use a champ’s full potential.

Skill floor

The minimum level of skill needed to use a champion effectively.

CC Abilities that stun, slow, disable, or immobilize enemies.

Crowd Control glossary for League of Legends Crowd Control, or CC, refers to effects that restrict an enemy’s movement, attacks, or abilities. Some types of CC completely disable champions, while others only limit certain actions.

Term Meaning Stun Prevents a champ from doing anything for a certain time.

Slow Reduces an enemy champion’s MS / makes them slower.

Root Makes an enemy unable to move but still lets them attack.

Silence

Prevents a champion from using their abilities (they can still move).

Airborne

Lifts up or moves a champ while preventing them from doing anything for a certain time. Can be Knockup, Knockback, or Pull.

Knockup

Lifts a champion into the air and temporarily disables their actions.

Knockback

Forcibly pushes an enemy champion away from the point of cast.

Pull Physically drags an enemy champion closer to the caster.

Fear

Slows affected champs and forces them to move away from the source.

Charm Forces an affected target to slowly walk toward the caster.

Taunt Forces an affected target to move toward and AA the caster.

Suppression

Completely disables a target champion (can’t be removed with Cleanse).

Blind

Causes the opponent to miss following AAs (only Teemo has it).

Disarm

Prevents an affected target from casting AA, but not spells, items, etc.

Grounded

Prevents using movement abilities (e.g., dashes and blinks).

Disrupt Cancels or stops channeled and charged abilities/attacks.

Cripple

Reduces a target’s AS by a percentage for a specific duration.

Drowsy/Sleep

Slows a target and causes them to fall asleep when the timer ends.

Berserk

Forces a unit to attack a nearby unit (whether ally, enemy, or neutral).

Flee Forces an affected champion to run away from the caster.

Kinematics

Drags a target continually toward a location/unit until they arrive.

Nearsight

Reduces a champion’s vision radius, blocking external and allied vision.

Stasis

Makes a unit invulnerable, untargetable, and immobile for a brief period.

Cleanse

Removes most CC effects and debuffs (self-targeted summoner spell).

CC chain

Apply multiple CC effects continuously to keep an enemy disabled.

Hard CC

CC that completely interrupts or strongly restricts a champion’s actions.

Soft CC CC that limits an enemy without completely disabling them.

Champion stats, damage, and item terminology

Champions gain stats through leveling, items, abilities, and other bonuses. Understanding these terms makes it easier to compare items and identify which stats a champion needs.

Damage and defensive stats Term Meaning Physical Damage Damage reduced by Armor (mostly from AAs, Marksmen, and Fighter abilities).

Magic Damage Damage reduced by MR (mostly used by Mages and Support).

True Damage

Damage that ignores all Armor and MR except items and shields (most used by Tanks, Assassins).

Stat that boosts Physical Damage of AAs and abilities (scales with AD).

Stat that boosts Magic Damage of abilities and effects (scales with AP).

Scaling

Champ’s power gain in a match through XP, levels, gold, and items.

AS How quickly a champion can perform AAs.

Makes CD seconds go by faster (AS but for abilities, basically).

CDR Takes time away from cooldowns.

AoE

Area in which an attack/ability reaches/covers (can hit multiple targets).

Armor Reduces how much incoming Physical Damage is dealt.

MR Reduces how much incoming Magic Damage is dealt.

Armor Pen

Reduces the effectiveness of enemy Armor against Physical Damage.

Magic Pen Reduces the effectiveness of enemy MR against Magic Damage.

Lethality

Removes a fixed amount of Armor from enemies (Flat Armor Pen).

LS Heals for a percentage of the damage dealt with AAs.

Spell Vamp Heals for a percentage of the damage dealt (except AAs).

Omnivamp Heals for a percentage of the damage dealt.

Shield

Temporary protection that absorbs applicable incoming damage.

Regen

Automatic recovery of health, mana, or another resource over time.

Bonus HP Additional Health gained beyond a champion’s base Health.

Item and build terminology Term Meaning Build Combination of items, runes, abilities, etc. used for a champion.

Core items

Items that form the main part of a champion’s typical build.

Full build

Having all available item slots filled with the intended items.

Build path

Order in which one buys item components and completed items.

Component Cheaper item used to build a more expensive one.

Active item

Item with an effect that the player can manually activate as a bonus.

Passive item

Item that provides a continuous/automatically triggered effect.

Situational item

Item purchased to counter specific opponents or match situations.

Defensive item

Item that improves survivability with HP, resistances, shields, etc.

Offensive item Item that improves damage through AD, AP, AS, Pen, etc.

Power Spike

Visible increase in a champion’s strength after obtaining an item/level.

Gold efficiency

Comparison of an item’s cost against the value of its stats.

Anti-Heal

Effects that reduce the amount of healing an enemy receives.

Grievous Wounds

Debuff that reduces all incoming healing (self and Regen included).

Vision and map awareness terminology for LoL Vision allows teams to see enemy movements, avoid ganks, and prepare for major objectives. Wards and vision control become especially important when players leave their lanes.

Term Meaning Vision Visible areas of the map in a match and units within them.

Ward Tool that grants vision of a specific area on the map.

Stealth Ward Ward that becomes invisible to enemies.

Control Ward Visible Ward that reveals and disables nearby enemy Wards.

Pink/Vision Ward Older names for Control Ward.

Oracle Lens/Sweeper Tool that reveals hidden enemy wards and traps.

Trinket Free, vision-related item kept in a dedicated slot.

Fog of War Map areas that a team doesn’t have any vision on/can’t see.

Facecheck

Dangerous actions of walking blindly into an area with no vision.

Deep Ward Ward placed far into the enemy team’s side of the map.

Vision control

Strategic management of map vision by placing/clearing wards.

Map awareness Paying attention/knowing what’s happening across the map.

Missing/SS/MIA

A way of warning the team that your lane opponent is missing.

Ping

Visual map signals used to share information without typing.

Progression and ranking glossary for League of Legends LoL matches are commonly divided into early, mid, and late game. Players also use terms related to ranked progression, matchmaking, and their performance throughout a match.

Match progression Term Meaning Early game The first 14 minutes of the game (focused on laning, farming, etc.).

Mid Game

14-25minutes of the game (players start rotating, grouping, etc.).

Late game

25+ minutes of the game (full item builds, many 5v5 fights, etc.)

Win condition

Specific strategy/objective a team needs to focus on for winning.

Tempo

Time and power advantage/ finish tasks faster than the enemy.

Gold lead Having earned more gold than an opponent or the enemy team.

Level advantage Having a higher champion level than an opponent.

Item advantage Having more completed items/components than an opponent.

Snowball

Using early advantage (e.g., first kill) to build a stronger lead.

Throw

Losing (objective, fight, etc.) even when you’re winning the match.

Stomp Win/lose a match or lane by a large margin.

Ranked and performance League of Legends glossary Term Meaning Ranked Competitive matchmaking mode in LoL where players compete for ranks.

Rank A player’s position within the competitive ranking system.

Elo

Skill-based system that matches players of similar level/rank.

MMR

Skill-based system that matches players of similar level/rank (hidden).

LP League Points earned/lost through ranked LoL matches.

Placement matches

The first 5 ranked games at the start of a new season/when you play ranked for the first time, used to determine your starting rank.

Climb Progress toward higher ranks through ranked matches.

Hardstuck

Slang for a player who remains at the same rank for a long time.

KDA

A performance metric calculated as (kills + assists) divided by deaths.

Win rate

Percentage of games won out of the total number of games played.

CS per min Average number of minions/monsters killed per minute.

Slang and chat terms in League of Legends glossary

League of Legends has its own vocabulary for describing teammates, opponents, mistakes, and match outcomes. Some expressions help with communication, while others are just for sarcasm.

Term Meaning AFK Player who is absent/no longer actively participating in a match.

Int/inting

Intentional feeding (sometimes misused to criticize basic mistakes).

Feed/feeding

Die repeatedly, continuously granting the enemy extra gold, XP, etc.

Fed

A player too strong to handle for opponents (from kills, farm, etc.).

Carry

A player who helped win a match through damage, objectives, etc.

Hard Carry

A player who had an exceptionally large impact on a team’s victory.

KS Taking an enemy kill that another ally expected to secure.

Troll/trolling Playing in a non-serious manner.

Flame/flaming

Hostile/abusive communication directed at teammates/opponents.

Griefing

Intentional actions that make it hard for the allied team to play.

Smurf

Experienced player using another account (a lower-level one).

Main

Champion or role that a player prefers or plays most frequently.

OTP Player who specializes in one champion only.

Diff

Saying a player is much better/worse than the other between teams.

Gap

Used to describe a perceived difference in player skill (similar to diff).

Tilt/tilted

Frustration that negatively affects a player’s decisions/performance.

Mental boom

Being so frustrated that you lose focus for the rest of a match.

AFK farm Farming while ignoring team fights/objectives.

FF Forfeit/surrender the match.

Open mid

Message indicating that your team will leave mid lane open so the opponents can end the game (used before surrender is possible).

WP/GJ

Compliment to a teammate/opponent for a successful/impresive play.

MB Acknowledgment of a personal mistake.

OP A champion, ability, or item considered way too strong.

Broken Slang for something considered unfairly strong.