Purview Enterprise Glossary does not support column level glossary mapping

Hi Burns, Mary Lou,

Thank you for clearly outlining your scenario—what you’re seeing is consistent with the current behavior of Microsoft Purview Unified Catalog.

Today, the Enterprise Glossary in the Unified Catalog does not support direct column-level glossary term assignment via the UI (unlike the Classic Glossary). This is a known gap, and there isn’t a published ETA yet for parity.

Given your goal (exposing column-level definitions to both users and AI models), here are the most effective approaches:

1. Use Column Descriptions (Recommended baseline)

• Add business definitions directly to column descriptions in Fabric (semantic models, lakehouse tables, etc.)

These are ingested into Purview and are visible in search, discovery, and AI experiences
This is the most scalable and low-maintenance way to surface column-level meaning broadly.
2. Use Critical Data Elements (CDEs) selectively

• Create CDEs only for high-value / business-critical columns

Associate glossary terms with those CDEs and link them to columns
Avoids creating excessive objects while still enabling governed, curated mappings where it matters most
3. Use Purview REST (Atlas) APIs for bulk column mapping

• You can programmatically assign glossary terms directly to column entities using their GUIDs
• This avoids creating a CDE per column
  This is currently the closest alternative to Classic Glossary-style column mapping at scale, especially if you automate it
  Recommended Approach (Balanced Strategy)

In practice, most customers adopt a hybrid model:

Use column descriptions for broad coverage (including AI scenarios)

Use CDEs for a small set of critical data elements

Use APIs if you need scalable glossary-term-to-column relationships

Microsoft is actively evolving the Unified Catalog, and feedback around column-level glossary mapping has been acknowledged. While there’s no committed timeline, it’s worth tracking updates in the official release notes.

At this time, there isn’t a single feature in Enterprise Glossary that fully replaces Classic Glossary’s column-level mapping via UI. However, the combination of column descriptions, selective CDE usage, and API-based automation provides a workable and scalable approach until this capability is enhanced.
Microsoft Reference Links
Enterprise Glossary (Unified Catalog):
https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/unified-catalog-enterprise-glossary

Critical Data Elements in Purview:
https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/purview/concept-critical-data-elements

Assign glossary terms via REST API:
https://learn.microsoft.com/rest/api/purview/catalogdataplane/glossary/assign-term-to-entities

Microsoft Fabric + Purview integration (metadata ingestion):
https://learn.microsoft.com/fabric/governance/microsoft-purview-integration

What’s new / roadmap updates:
https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/whats-new

Column-level glossary mapping is supported in the Unified Catalog Enterprise glossary, but only after enabling asset curation and using the correct entry points and roles.

Key points from the current behavior

1. Enterprise glossary terms can be linked directly to columns
   • Unified Catalog glossary terms are “active” and can be linked to:
     • Data products
     • Data assets
     • Columns
     • Critical data elements (CDEs)
   • This is explicit in the guidance to “link glossary terms to data products, data assets, columns, and critical data elements.”
2. Prerequisites and roles
   • To create, edit, and manage glossary terms: Data Steward role in the relevant governance domain.
   • To link glossary terms to data assets and columns: Data Steward role in the governance domain and Data Reader role in the collections where the assets/columns reside.
   • Asset curation must be enabled before attaching terms to assets and columns. If this step is not completed, column-level linking will not be available.
3. How to link Enterprise glossary terms to columns (Unified Catalog) There are two main paths: A. Starting from the glossary term
   • In the Microsoft Purview portal, open Unified Catalog.
   • Go to Catalog management → Governance domains.
   • Select the governance domain, then on the Glossary terms card select View all.
   • Open the desired glossary term (must be in Draft state; unpublish if needed).
   • Go to the Related tab.
   • Choose Add column (or Add data assets / Add data product / Add critical data element as needed).
   • In the flyout, search for and select the relevant columns, then select Add.
   B. Starting from the data asset
   • From the data asset’s details page (for example, a table or other supported asset in Unified Catalog), use the option to link glossary terms to assets and columns.
   • Data Stewards can add or remove links to published and unpublished glossary terms that reside in their governance domains.
   • Global Asset Curators can add published glossary terms to data assets.
   Once linked, the term’s Related tab will show the associated data products, data assets, and columns, and Catalog Readers can see published terms associated with those assets/columns.
4. Relationship to Critical Data Elements (CDEs)
   • CDEs are one of several related business concepts that can be linked to a glossary term, alongside data products, data assets, and columns.
   • CDEs are not required for column-level mapping; they are an additional governance construct for truly critical elements.
   • Using CDEs only for the purpose of enabling column-level mapping is unnecessary if direct term-to-column linking is available and asset curation is enabled.
5. Classic glossary vs. Enterprise glossary
   • Classic business glossary is still accessible (via Unified Catalog → Catalog management → Classic types → Glossaries tab) but is considered the legacy experience.
   • Unified Catalog glossary terms are the forward path and are designed to be active governance objects that can be linked to assets and columns.
   • If classic glossary terms exist, they can be migrated into Unified Catalog and then used directly for asset/column curation.
6. Enabling column-level mapping in practice
   • If column-level mapping appears unavailable in the Enterprise glossary:
     • Confirm that the migration/enablement process for asset curation has been completed (even if there were no classic terms).
     • Verify that the user has both Data Steward (in the governance domain) and Data Reader (in the relevant collections).
     • Ensure the term is in Draft state when adding links from the term’s page.
7. Exposing column-level definitions to end users and AI
   • Once glossary terms are linked to columns:
     • End users with Catalog Reader can discover assets and see the associated glossary terms and their definitions.
     • The Enterprise glossary provides a consistent, business-friendly vocabulary across assets, which is the intended mechanism for exposing standardized definitions rather than duplicating them in multiple glossaries.
   • Column descriptions in Fabric can still be used, but they are complementary to, not a replacement for, Unified Catalog glossary terms linked at column level.

Roadmap visibility

• The provided information confirms that Unified Catalog glossary terms are the strategic, active governance mechanism and that classic glossary is legacy but still accessible.
• No additional roadmap details (for example, decommission timelines for classic glossary or specific AI integration milestones) are present in the available material.

Given the current capabilities, the recommended approach is:

• Use Unified Catalog Enterprise glossary terms as the primary source of business definitions.
• Enable asset curation and required roles, then link those terms directly to columns (and optionally to CDEs only where elements are truly critical).
• Use Fabric column descriptions as a secondary, local annotation where needed, but avoid duplicating glossary structures in the classic glossary.

References:

• Glossary terms in Unified Catalog
• Create and manage glossary terms
• Migrate classic glossary terms and enable asset curation (preview)
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Microsoft Purview data governance solutions
• Data products in Unified Catalog