lexicography
Crafting word references
Lexicography is the practice of compiling dictionaries—selecting words, defining them, and arranging entries for reference.
A lexicographer studies how words are actually used rather than prescribing how they should be used.
She spent her career in lexicography, tracking how new slang entered mainstream usage.
Statement of meaning
- entryAccess or submission
- lemmaBase form, or helper theorem
- headwordEntry term in dictionaries
- citationMention of a source
pronunciation · usage · meaning · sense · example · cross-reference · subentry · run-on
Synonym and antonym compendium
- glossaryAlphabetical list with definitions
- encyclopediaComprehensive subject-matter collection
- wordbookCompiled vocabulary reference
- concordanceAlphabetical word index
Assembled written works
- concordanceAlphabetical word index
- attestationFormal declaration confirming truth
- frequencyRate of recurrence
- collocationConventional phrase pattern
One who specifies meaning
- editorOne who revises text
- reviserOne who edits text
- etymologistWord origin scholar
- OEDAuthoritative English dictionary abbreviation
Merriam-Webster · compilation · revision · abridgment · descriptive · prescriptive
Original word form
- originStarting point or source
- rootUnderground absorbing structure
- derivationSource or origin tracing
- borrowingTemporary taking of another's
loanword · cognate · reconstruction · calque · doublet · inherited
Word having related meanings
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- synonymySameness of meaning
- antonymyOpposite-meaning word relationship
collocation · lumping · splitting · nuance · extension · narrowing · broadening · amelioration
definition
Statement of meaning
citation · pronunciation · usage · meaning · sense · example · cross-reference · subentry · run-on · variant
thesaurus
Synonym and antonym compendium
- glossaryAlphabetical list with definitions
- encyclopediaComprehensive subject-matter collection
- wordbookCompiled vocabulary reference
corpus
Assembled written works
- concordanceAlphabetical word index
- attestationFormal declaration confirming truth
- frequencyRate of recurrence
definer
One who specifies meaning
- editorOne who revises text
- reviserOne who edits text
- etymologistWord origin scholar
OED · Merriam-Webster · compilation · revision · abridgment · descriptive · prescriptive
etymon
Original word form
- originStarting point or source
- rootUnderground absorbing structure
- derivationSource or origin tracing
borrowing · loanword · cognate · reconstruction · calque · doublet · inherited
polysemy
Word having related meanings
- denotationWord's explicit dictionary meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- synonymySameness of meaning
antonymy · collocation · lumping · splitting · nuance · extension · narrowing · broadening · amelioration · pejoration
colloquial
Casual, everyday language
jargon · technical · archaic · obsolete · dialectal · regional · nonstandard · taboo · vulgar · literary
- disciplinesbiology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, psychology
- English languagelinguistics, semantics, phonetics, orthography, vocabulary
- etymologyword origins, word history, word origin, etymon, root words
- linguisticslinguistics, phoneme, phonemes, morpheme, morphemes
- Victorian scholarshipphilology, classics, natural history, antiquarianism, classical studies
- Arabic linguisticsverb conjugation, root system, verb forms, Arabic alphabet, diglossia