Do we need an autonomous theory of terms?

Much effort is devoted to proving that a particular subject field or activity is a discipline and indeed, a scientific discipline. These efforts result from stereotypical prejudices about the significance of science and its social impact. Terminology has suffered from these misconceptions, as can be seen from the repeated references to "terminology science " in recent publications. This paper is intended to clarify the position of terminology as a theoretical and practical field of study; and to propose a general approach to the description of terms within a general framework for the description of language. Taking linguistics as a starting point, it attempts to present an alternative paradigm which serves for the description of the multidisciplinary and multidimensional nature of terms and their use in discourse.