lexical
adjective
lex·i·cal
ˈlek-si-kəl 
1
: of or relating to words or the vocabulary of a language as distinguished from its grammar and construction
Our language has many lexical borrowings from other languages.
2
: of or relating to a lexicon or to lexicography
lexical methods aim to list all the relevant forms—
A. F. Parker-Rhodes
A. F. Parker-Rhodes
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The Wordy History of Lexical
The word lexicon can be used as a synonym of dictionary, and the word lexicography refers to the practice of making dictionaries. Both of these words, as well as lexical, derive from the Greek word lexis, meaning "word" or "speech." Another descendant of lexis is lexiphanic, an archaic adjective describing one who uses pretentious words for effect. Lexis should not be confused with the Latin lex, meaning "law," which is used in legal phrases such as lex non scripta, "unwritten law."
Synonyms
Examples of lexical in a Sentence
a dictionary provides lexical information—it tells you what the word “cat” means, not all there is to know about cats
Recent Examples on the Web
Because JavaScript interprets each number as a string type and does lexical sorting, not numerical sorting.
—Sheon Han, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024
By adopting methods like tiered retention, lexical scoping and hashing, companies can responsibly moderate content while respecting user privacy.
—George Ng, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
This can help spot linguistic features which humans may miss, calculating the percentage prevalence of words and classes of words, lexical diversity, average sentence length, grammatical patterns and many other metrics.
—Mohammed Al-Mosaiwi, Discover Magazine, 7 Feb. 2018
Last August, Hungarian neuroscientists Atilla Andics and colleagues reported that the left hemisphere of the dog brain is selectively activated in response to the lexical properties (i.e. the meaning) of spoken words.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 7 Apr. 2017
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Sheon Han, WIRED, 4 Mar. 2024
By adopting methods like tiered retention, lexical scoping and hashing, companies can responsibly moderate content while respecting user privacy.
—George Ng, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
This can help spot linguistic features which humans may miss, calculating the percentage prevalence of words and classes of words, lexical diversity, average sentence length, grammatical patterns and many other metrics.
—Mohammed Al-Mosaiwi, Discover Magazine, 7 Feb. 2018
Last August, Hungarian neuroscientists Atilla Andics and colleagues reported that the left hemisphere of the dog brain is selectively activated in response to the lexical properties (i.e. the meaning) of spoken words.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 7 Apr. 2017
See all Example Sentences for lexical
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Cite this Entry
“Lexical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lexical. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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lexical
adjective
lex·i·cal
ˈlek-si-kəl
: of or relating to words, a vocabulary, or a dictionary
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