diff --git a/docs/glossary.rst b/docs/glossary.rst
--- a/docs/glossary.rst
+++ b/docs/glossary.rst
@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@
      :term:`directories <directory>` that :term:`contents <content>` acquire
      (local) names.
 
+   deposit
+
+     A software artifact that was pushed to the Software Heritage archive
+     (unlike :term:`loaders <loader>`, which pull artifacts).
+     A deposit is useful when you want to ensure a software release's source
+     code is archived in SWH even if it is not published anywhere else.
+
    directory
 
      A set of named pointers to contents (file entries), directories (directory