The words, defined plainly.

Domain names come with jargon. Here is what each word means when Webault uses it.

The systemHow domains are held

Domain name: A human-readable address on the internet, made of a label and an extension: example.com. The label is the part you choose; the extension is fixed by the registry that runs it.
Extension, or TLD: The part after the last dot: .com, .studio, .design. Formally a top-level domain. Every extension is operated by exactly one registry. Webault writes names across 532 open extensions and chooses ones that fit the brief rather than defaulting to .com.
Registry: The organisation that operates an extension and holds the authoritative record of every name registered under it. When Webault says it “asks the registry”, this is who it asks. There is no more reliable source for whether a name is taken.
Registrar: A company accredited to sell registrations under an extension on the registry’s behalf. You buy a domain from a registrar; the registry records it. Webault is not a registrar and sends you to one to complete a purchase.
Registrant: The person or organisation that holds a registration. When a name is taken, there is a registrant behind it.

StatusesWhat a row can say

Registrable: Webault’s word for a name the registry has confirmed is not registered and whose extension is open for registration. Registrable names are shown in black with a price and a Buy link. This is the only status Webault will ever call free.
Taken: A name the registry reports as already registered. Taken names are struck through and counted, and Webault is told about their shape so later rounds avoid it.
Unverified: A name for which the registry did not return a clear answer: a timeout, a rate limit, an ambiguous response, or an extension whose registry does not reliably expose availability. Webault will not guess. An unverified name is never presented as free.

Kinds of extensionWhy some are missing

Open extension: An extension that accepts registrations from anyone, with no eligibility rules. Webault covers 532 of them. If it shows you a name, you can register it.
Brand TLD: An extension owned and used by a single company for its own purposes. Not for sale to the public, so Webault leaves it out.
Restricted extension: An extension with eligibility rules: a profession, a country of residence, a verified community. Webault leaves these out too, because most people cannot register them.
Premium domain: A name the registry or a reseller prices above the standard rate for its extension, often because it is short or a common word. Webault shows the price it gets back for a name so a premium price is not a surprise at checkout.

Webault’s wordsBriefs, rounds, hunts

Brief: The one sentence you give Webault describing what you are naming. “A two-person design studio.” It is the entire input.
Round: One batch of names written and checked against the registry. When a round finishes, Webault is told which names and shapes came back taken, and the next round avoids them.
Hunt: A full search: a brief and the rounds that follow it. “Start a hunt” is the button.
Name shape: The structural pattern of a name. Webault writes compounds (formhaus.com), cuts across the dot (kern.ing), coinages (quoin.studio), and real words on a fitting extension (bleed.agency). Shapes that keep coming back taken get dropped from later rounds.

See these terms in use on how it works.

Last reviewed 13 September 2026.

One sentence in. Only what’s provably free out.

Start a hunt No card.