Lexicology

//ˌlɛksɪˈkɑləd͡ʒi// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The part of linguistics that studies words, their nature and meaning, words' elements, relations between words including semantic relations, words groups and the whole lexicon. uncountable

    "The fifth is devoted to doctrine; the sixth and seventh to remarks on syntax and lexicology respectively."

  2. 2
    the branch of linguistics that studies the lexical component of language wordnet
  3. 3
    A specific theory concerning the lexicon. countable

Synonyms

All synonyms
bowwow theorycomparative linguisticsderivationdescriptive linguisticsdialectologydingdong theory

Example

More examples

"A future conceivable sophisticated AI language generator would take parameters like typology, phonology, morphology, lexicology, syntax, semantics, etc., then would output a whole new language."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λεξικός (lexikós, “of words”), from λέξις (léxis, “a saying, speech, word”), from λέγειν (légein, “to speak”). By surface analysis, lexico- + -logy.

Related phrases

computational lexicology

More for "lexicology"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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