How did Galileo's immediate description of lunar relief features differ from the terminology solidified later regarding impact sites?

He centered his description on mountains and depressions, rather than the term crater

While modern scientific terminology primarily uses the term 'crater' to describe the dominant features resulting from impacts, Galileo's initial, revolutionary documentation focused on the observable topography itself. He clearly documented seeing mountains and valleys—the physical evidence of unevenness on the surface. The full concept of a feature being specifically formed by a massive object striking the surface, leading to an impact basin or crater, was a conceptual structure that would be solidified later in scientific understanding, even though Galileo identified the tangible evidence that proved the surface was not smooth.