lexicon

[lek-si-kon, -kuhn]

noun

plural

lexica, lexicons 

1. a wordbook or dictionary, especially of Greek, Latin, or Hebrew.

   Synonyms: concordance, gloss, thesaurus, glossary

2. the vocabulary of a particular language, field, social class, person, etc.

3. inventory or record.

   unparalleled in the lexicon of human relations.

4. Linguistics.

   1. the total inventory of morphemes in a given language.

   2. the inventory of base morphemes plus their combinations with derivational morphemes.

lexicon

/ ˈlɛksɪkən /

noun

1. a dictionary, esp one of an ancient language such as Greek or Hebrew

2. a list of terms relating to a particular subject

3. the vocabulary of a language or of an individual

4. linguistics the set of all the morphemes of a language

Word History and Origins

Origin of lexicon¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; from Modern Latin, from Medieval Greek, Greek lexikòn (biblíon) “word (book),” from lexikón neuter of adjective lexikós “of or pertaining to words” + biblíon “book”; lexis -ic; Bible ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of lexicon¹

C17: New Latin, from Greek lexikon , n use of lexikos relating to words, from Greek lexis word, from legein to speak

Example Sentences

The term quickly spread beyond the ranks of the police officers who coined it, with “Black Friday” entering the lexicon in the early 1960s.

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Both videos helped facilitate Carpenter’s catapult into the cultural lexicon with the summer-infused shots in “Espresso” and the “Death Becomes Her” story line in “Taste.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Former England captain Alan Shearer pointed to some of the phraseology that has come into the football lexicon around handball as he called for change.

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And their budding romance is not entirely unprecedented in the lexicon of Canadian political history.

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“Monroe 2.0 was not in the lexicon. And now people have gone back and they’re saying, ‘Yeah, definitely, I agree with that.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal