"This International Standard addresses the creation, analysis and sustainment of architectures of systems through the use of architecture descriptions. This International Standard provides a core ontology for the description of architectures. The provisions of this International Standard serve to enforce desired properties of architecture descriptions. This International Standard also specifies provisions that enforce desired properties of architecture frameworks and architecture description languages (ADLs), in order to usefully support the development and use of architecture descriptions. This International Standard provides a basis on which to compare and integrate architecture frameworks and ADLs by providing a common ontology for specifying their contents. This International Standard can be used to establish a coherent practice for developing architecture descriptions, architecture frameworks and architecture description languages within the context of a life cycle and its processes (not defined by this International Standard). This International Standard can further be used to assess conformance of an architecture description, of an architecture framework, of an architecture description language, or of an architecture viewpoint to its provisions."

ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010 Systems and Software Engineering - Architecture Description. 1st Edition. 2011-12-01 [Link]