This study falls within the context of the Sociocognitive Approach to Terminology (Temmerman 2000). It reflects on the functionality of polysemy and synonymy in the complex process of legal communication and its mechanisms for understanding. The paper focuses on a comparative analysis of the translation of a prototypically structured category such as that of «sumario»/«indagini preliminari» in Spanish and Italian criminal procedure. Through an analysis of Spanish and Italian university texts and codes of criminal procedure, we have described these units based on the template of understanding proposed by Temmerman (2000: 122), emphasizing their conceptualization in the respective legal systems. The flexibility and diversity of the categorization process generate synonymic and polysemic units whose presence in criminal procedure terminology proves fundamental. Legal translators should try to understand and take them into account when drafting their text.
