Found some similar posts on Databases:
https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=371417
https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=265244
that led to https://moodle.org/plugins/mod_dataform
From https://docs.moodle.org/36/en/Dataform_capabilities, this is exactly what I need!
Workaround: https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=324938
Delete all roles from permission to approve or edit approvals! Make sure this is for the specific activity, not every glossary.
Correction: this would be what I need, if I could figure it out.
For the moment, I'm just uninstalling the Dataform plugin because it's going unused and I'm no closer to understanding it than I was months ago.