Lexis
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The set of all words and phrases in a language; any unified subset of words from a particular language. countable, uncountable
"Thus, alongside current lexis, words and senses now obsolete find a place in a dictionary on historical principles."
- 2 all of the words in a language; all word forms having meaning or grammatical function wordnet
- 3 Words, collocations, and common phrases in a language; vocabulary and word combinations. countable, uncountable
"By the 1980s, English language teachers generally had begun to realize that there had been a neglect of lexis in teaching methods and coursebooks. […] The basic truth that without vocabulary or lexis we can't express anything had to be restated and a new approach to teaching lexis was needed."
- 4 The vocabulary used by a writer. countable, uncountable
"In this broadsheet newspaper, the reporter uses a complicated and formal lexis which I find hard to understand."
Example
More examples"Thus, alongside current lexis, words and senses now obsolete find a place in a dictionary on historical principles."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek λέξις (léxis, “speech, word”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.