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The ancient Greeks were some of the earliest makers of dictionaries; they used them mainly to catalog obsolete terms from their rich literary past. To create a word for writers of dictionaries, the Greeks sensibly attached the suffix -graphos, meaning "writer," to lexikon, meaning "dictionary," to form lexikographos, the direct ancestor of the English word lexicographer. Lexikon, which itself descends from Greek lexis (meaning "word" or "speech"), also gave us lexicon, which can mean either "dictionary" or "the vocabulary of a language, speaker, or subject."
Examples of lexicographer in a Sentence
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Nov. 2024
Written by a career lexicographer with an infectious love of the English language, this ode to the dictionary is full of fun facts for linguistics lovers, as well as intimate stories that nerds of all stripes can enjoy.
—The Week Us, theweek, 16 Apr. 2024
Mary’s flowers and their legends Using research from botanists, folklorists and lexicographers, Stokes and McTague created lists of hundreds of flowers and plants with their medieval, religious names.
—Bridget Retzloff, The Conversation, 20 May 2024
The origins of the ending-preposition prohibition Among grammarians and lexicographers, Merriam-Webster's comments are widely accepted.
—Emma Bowman, NPR, 27 Feb. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Lexicographer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lexicographer. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
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lexicographer
noun
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