Desemanticization
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The loss or removal of all or part of the original semantic content (meaning) of a word or morpheme, sometimes (but not always) as part of grammaticalization. uncountable
"[…] Desemanticization By this process, a lexical item receives a second, non-lexical function, which may ultimately become its only function. Thus, in addition to its lexical meaning, a word receives […] Once again, this leads to the desemanticization of lexical meaning, namely that of the action verbs […]"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"[…] Desemanticization By this process, a lexical item receives a second, non-lexical function, which may ultimately become its only function. Thus, in addition to its lexical meaning, a word receives […] Once again, this leads to the desemanticization of lexical meaning, namely that of the action verbs […]"
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.