Wallet and key terms
A wallet manages keys, addresses, and signing interactions. A private key authorizes signatures, a seed phrase commonly derives wallet keys, and an address is a public identifier.
Assets are recorded on-chain; the wallet holds the signing capability used to control an address.
Networks, blocks, and confirmations
Nodes maintain network state and transactions enter blocks. Block height and confirmation count help describe how far a transaction has progressed.
Finality rules differ by chain, so confirmation expectations are network-specific.
Gas, nonce, and transaction hash
Gas describes execution cost, nonce orders transactions from an account, and a transaction hash identifies a broadcast transaction.
These answer three different questions: cost, ordering, and lookup.
EVM, contracts, and tokens
The EVM is a smart-contract execution environment. Contracts live at network-specific addresses and tokens commonly store balances through contract logic.
Approval and allowance refer to permission granted to a spender contract.
Layer 2, bridges, and DApps
Layer 2 systems scale execution while maintaining a relationship with a base layer; bridges move assets across networks or layers; DApps connect users to contracts.
Switching a network is not the same as bridging, and connecting is not the same as approving tokens.
Learn the general relationship, then consult network-specific documentation.
How to decode an unfamiliar term
First place it in one category: keys and identity, network consensus, transaction fields, contract permissions, or application interaction.
Learn words through context
Then connect it to concepts you already know. A spender belongs to approvals; finality belongs to confirmation; calldata belongs to contract execution.
A glossary provides orientation, but real decisions still depend on the current network and actual wallet prompt.
- Addresses are public; key material is secret
- Transaction hashes locate public records
- Gas and nonce relate to cost and ordering
- Network plus contract plus permission defines many Web3 actions