lexical semantics
Study of meaning
Lexical semantics is the branch of linguistics concerned with word meaning—how words encode concepts, how meanings relate to one another, and how context shapes interpretation.
It examines synonymy, antonymy, polysemy, and the boundaries between related terms.
Her research in lexical semantics explored why "big" and "large" aren't always interchangeable.
- word meaningA term's significance
- definitionStatement of meaning
- polysemyWord having related meanings
- synonymySameness of meaning
- phraseologyManner of verbal expression
meaning in context · grammar · idiomatic expressions · figurative language · concept · vocabulary · collocation · denotation · nuance · context · metaphor · words · reference · interpretation · signifier · thesaurus · ambiguity · antonymy
- vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
- etymologyword origins, word history, word origin, etymon, root words
- word studyword origins, word roots, word meaning, word meanings, word formation
- lexicologysynonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homophones, homographs
- psycholinguisticslanguage processing, language comprehension, word recognition, tip of the tongue, tip-of-the-tongue
- semanticsmeaning, denotation, sense, connotation, reference
linguistic subfield focus
lexical semanticsphonology
Science of language sounds
syntax · phonetics · morphology · pragmatics · prosody