Okuzeka
Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

Single sign-on

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCommon term

In software engineering, single sign-on means: A login system that lets a user sign in once with one set of credentials and then use many different applications without logging in again.

In Turkish: tek oturum açma, SSO

How it is used

Called SSO, letter by letter. Companies connect apps to an identity provider (IdP) such as Microsoft Entra ID or Okta using protocols like SAML or OpenID Connect. SSO is convenient and centralises control, but it makes the IdP account very valuable to attackers.

Example sentences

  1. The new HR app supports single sign-on, so staff can use their normal company login.

  2. Every SaaS tool must be connected to single sign-on before it goes live.

Common collocations

  • SSO login
  • identity provider
  • SAML SSO
  • enable single sign-on
  • authenticationThe process of checking who a user or system is, for example with a password, a token or a fingerprint, before giving access.
  • multi-factor authenticationA login method that asks for two or more different kinds of proof, such as a password plus a code from a phone, before granting access.
  • credentialsThe details that prove who a user is and let them log in, most often a username and password, but also keys, tokens and certificates.
  • access controlThe rules and technical measures that decide who or what can use a system, view data or enter a place, and what they are allowed to do there.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: