lexeme
Word family nucleus
A lexeme is the fundamental unit of vocabulary in a language—the abstract concept behind related word forms.
Run, runs, ran, and running are all forms of a single lexeme.
Dictionaries typically organize entries by lexeme rather than listing every inflected form separately.
The term belongs to linguistics and lexicography rather than everyday speech.
Linguistic meaning unit
- termFixed period or word
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- itemSingle unit or article
- unitIndividual part or measure
stock · active · passive · receptive · productive · acquisition · frequency · core
Smallest meaningful language unit
- affixWord-part modifier
- rootUnderground absorbing structure
- stemPlant's central axis
- suffixWord-ending addition
prefix · infix · inflection · derivation · bound · free · base · phoneme
Alphabetical word reference
- entryAccess or submission
- headwordEntry term in dictionaries
- lemmaBase form, or helper theorem
- definitionStatement of meaning
gloss · usage · example · thesaurus · wordlist · concordance · corpus · frequency
What something signifies
- sensePerception or judgment
- polysemyWord having related meanings
- homonymyIdentical sound, different meanings
- synonymySameness of meaning
antonymy · connotation · denotation · signification · ambiguity · collocation · disambiguation
word
Linguistic meaning unit
- termFixed period or word
- expressionConveyed thought or feeling
- itemSingle unit or article
unit · stock · active · passive · receptive · productive · acquisition · frequency · core · peripheral
morpheme
Smallest meaningful language unit
suffix · prefix · infix · inflection · derivation · bound · free · base · phoneme · grapheme
dictionary
Alphabetical word reference
definition · gloss · usage · example · thesaurus · wordlist · concordance · corpus · frequency · attestation
meaning
What something signifies
- sensePerception or judgment
- polysemyWord having related meanings
- homonymyIdentical sound, different meanings
synonymy · antonymy · connotation · denotation · signification · ambiguity · collocation · disambiguation
neologism
Newly created expression
- coinageInvented term or currency
- borrowingTemporary taking of another's
- calqueBorrowed phrase translated literally
blend · etymology · etymon · cognate · loanword · archaism · obsolete · word-formation · productivity
legend, lecture, lexicon, lexical, lexis, lexicology, lexically, lexicographers, lexicologist