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. )

Example Sentences

“It’s weird that something that we just threw off like that suddenly becomes part of the lexicon of our lives,” Reiner said on NPR’s “Fresh Air” in September.

From Los Angeles Times

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

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.”

From 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.

From BBC

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

From BBC