lexicon

American  

[lek-si-kon, -kuhn] / ˈlɛk sɪˌkɒn, -kən /

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.

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lexicon British  

/ 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

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Etymology

Origin of lexicon

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. )

Explanation

A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or subject. "No-hitter," "go-ahead run," and "Baltimore chop" are part of the baseball lexicon. Lexicons are really dictionaries, though a lexicon usually covers an ancient language or the special vocabulary of a particular author or field of study. In linguistics, the lexicon is the total stock of words and word elements that carry meaning. Lexicon is from Greek lexikon (biblion) meaning "word(book)," ultimately going back to legein, "to speak."

Example Sentences

Drawing on contemporary color standards and systems such as Munsell’s, he set out to do something deceptively difficult: translate the scientific lexicon into terms everyday readers could understand.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

From its exotic location to the now-iconic buffs, “Survivor” established a world all its own, complete with a unique lexicon of immunity challenges, tribal council and Probst’s signature catchphrase, “The tribe has spoken.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

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

From Barron's • Nov. 28, 2025

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.

From BBC • Nov. 11, 2025

Here, for example, is the second paragraph of the entry for ‘magnet’ from a technical lexicon of 1708: Sturmius in his Epistola lnvitatoria dat.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton