Forex Glossary — 200+ Trading Terms Explained
Every forex term you'll ever need — from beginner basics to advanced trading concepts. 200+ definitions written by traders, for traders.
The Complete Forex Glossary — 200+ Trading Terms Explained
Forex trading has its own language, and not knowing it puts you at a serious disadvantage. Whether you're reading an EA's documentation, setting up a prop firm challenge, or trying to understand why your trade was stopped out, this glossary covers every term you'll encounter. Each definition is written in plain language by traders with 18+ years of industry experience — not copy-pasted from a textbook.
Use the search bar to find specific terms instantly, or browse alphabetically. Every definition is designed to be practical: not just what the term means, but why it matters to your trading.
How to Use This Glossary
This glossary is designed as both a reference tool and a learning resource. If you're new to forex, start with the foundational terms: pip, lot, leverage, spread, margin, and stop-loss. These are the building blocks that every other concept depends on. Once you're comfortable with the basics, explore the intermediate and advanced terms to deepen your understanding.
If you're setting up an Expert Advisor, pay particular attention to terms like drawdown, lot size, margin call, slippage, and VPS — these directly affect how your EA performs. For prop firm traders, focus on trailing drawdown, consistency rule, daily drawdown, and profit split.
More Free Trading Resources
Test your knowledge with our free forex quizzes — 79 questions across 6 interactive quizzes covering trader personality, automation readiness, gold trading, prop firm rules, and risk management. Or use our free forex calculators to calculate pip values, lot sizes, drawdown recovery, and compound growth before your next trade.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most important forex terms for beginners?
Start with these 10 essential terms: pip (the smallest price movement), lot (the unit of trade size), leverage (borrowed capital to amplify positions), spread (the cost of each trade), margin (the deposit required to hold a position), stop-loss (automatic loss limit), take-profit (automatic profit target), drawdown (peak-to-trough decline), candlestick (a price chart element), and support/resistance (key price levels). Understanding these gives you the foundation for everything else.
What forex terms do I need to know for Expert Advisor trading?
For EA trading, focus on: Expert Advisor (the automated program itself), backtesting (testing against historical data), lot size (position sizing), drawdown (risk measurement), VPS (server for 24/7 operation), slippage (execution price difference), spread (trading cost), magic number (EA trade identifier), and timeframe (chart period the EA operates on). Understanding these terms ensures you can configure and monitor any EA correctly.
What's the difference between a pip and a point?
A pip is the standard unit of price movement — typically the 4th decimal place for most pairs (0.0001) or the 2nd decimal for JPY pairs (0.01). A point is one-tenth of a pip (the 5th decimal place). Most modern brokers quote in points rather than pips, so a 1-pip move shows as 10 points on your platform. For gold (XAU/USD), 1 pip = $0.01 in price movement.
How many forex terms are in this glossary?
This glossary contains over 200 forex trading terms covering everything from basic concepts like "bid" and "ask" through to advanced topics like "correlation coefficient", "martingale", and "Monte Carlo simulation". We regularly add new terms as the industry evolves, particularly around automated trading, prop firm terminology, and gold-specific concepts.
Can I link directly to a specific term?
Yes — every term has its own anchor link. Use the format cheaperforex.com/forex-glossary/#term-name (with hyphens replacing spaces) to link directly to any definition. This is useful for sharing specific terms with other traders or referencing them in your own notes.