ABSTRACT Objective: to build a specialized nursing terminology for the prevention of falls in the elderly in primary healthcare, based on the ICNP®. Method: this is a methodological study developed in two stages: (1) identification of relevant terms for the prevention of falls in the elderly in official documents; (2) cross mapping of the identified terms with the terms contained in the ICNP® Seven-Axis Model, version 2019/2020. Results: a total of 13,408 terms was extracted from official documents, which were submitted to manual screening, resulting in the inclusion of 391 relevant terms. Cross mapping revealed 283 constant terms (67.8% with level of equivalence 1; 32.2% with level of equivalence 2) and 108 non-constant terms (88.9% with level of equivalence 5; 6.5% with level of equivalence 4; 4.6% with level of equivalence 3). In the set of constant terms, the terms of the Focus (43.1%), Action (26.1%), and Means (13.1%) axes stood out; in non-constant terms there was a predominance of the Focus (38.0%), Means (23.1%), and Judgment (15.7%) axes. Conclusion: we obtained a specialized nursing terminology that will support the development of nursing diagnoses, outcomes, and interventions to contribute to the prevention of falls in the elderly in primary healthcare.