What does "lexicography" mean?

The art or craft of compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries.

How do you pronounce "lexicography"?

Pronounced //ˌlɛksɪˈkɒɡɹəfi//.

Common synonyms include: criticism, cryptanalysis, cryptography, cryptology, diagnostics, epigraphy.

//ˌlɛksɪˈkɒɡɹəfi// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The art or craft of compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries. uncountable
"[T]here are ſeveral Species of Writing, in which a proper Degree of Hebetude is abſolutely neceſſary, as well as in other profeſſions; such as Lexicography, Index-making, and the like; [...]"
2
the act of writing dictionaries wordnet
3
The scholarly discipline of analysing and describing the semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language and developing theories of dictionary components and structures linking the data in dictionaries. uncountable
"But changes of this nature belong to lexicography, as they do not affect the grammatical forms of words."
4
A dictionary, a lexicon, a wordbook. countable
"There can be no doubt, that in a general sense a boat is a vessel, for it is "a vehicle in which men or goods are carried on the water," which is one of the definitions of a vessel given in our lexicographies; [...]"

"He wrote a thesis on Berber lexicography."

From lexico- (prefix meaning ‘speech; words’) + -graphy (suffix meaning ‘something written about a specified subject’).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.