lexicon

noun lex·i·con \ ˈlek-sə-ˌkän also -kən \

|Updated on: 9 Aug 2018

Examples: lexicon in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Tips on Using lexicon in a Sentence

Definition of lexicon

plural lexica play \ˈlek-sə-kə\ or lexicons

1 : a book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language and their definitions : dictionary

a French lexicon

2 a : the vocabulary of a language, an individual speaker or group of speakers, or a subject

computer terms that have been added to the lexicon

b : the total stock of morphemes in a language

3 : repertoire, inventory

added the DVD to his video lexicon

See lexicon defined for English-language learners

See lexicon defined for kids

Examples of lexicon in a Sentence

a computer term that has entered the general lexicon
an avid word enthusiast who is compiling a lexicon of archaic and unusual words

Recent Examples of lexicon from the Web

Actually, that Latin phrase seems only to have entered the popular lexicon after Queen Elizabeth II used it to refer to 1992.

— tom saler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Tom Saler: 2018 has eerie resemblance to 1968," 23 Mar. 2018
Examining the 2,612 Instagram and Tumblr posts, Gerrard uncovered a complicated lexicon of signals that would likely evade any platform’s moderation efforts.

— louise matsakis, WIRED, "How Pro-Eating Disorder Posts Evade Filters on Social Media," 13 June 2018
If borne out, the findings would be nothing short of revolutionary, introducing a new fundamental particle to the lexicon of physics that might even help explain the mystery of dark matter.

— clara moskowitz, Scientific American, "Evidence Builds for a New Kind of Neutrino," 7 June 2018
As has been borne out in nearly four decades of songs, more than 20 of them top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the lexicon of his story telling is that of the farmer, the small town purveyor, the boundless spaces sprawled between the headlines.

— cathy applefeld olson, Billboard, "John Mellencamp Talks Taking a Knee During 'Colbert' Performance," 6 June 2018
Several examples share terminology with the lexicon of gender.

— mark peters, BostonGlobe.com, "Leveling the field between trans and cis," 12 Jan. 2018
The plan’s very lexicon embraces conservative branding of federal assistance for the poor.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Under Trump, Americans are becoming more supportive of immigration," 22 June 2018
But despite the efforts of reactionaries—some British philologists advocated a return to Old English—and of spelling modernizers like Noah Webster, the lexicon remains our common property.

— helen rosner, The New Yorker, "Briefly Noted," 6 June 2018
For example, the three-shot GM-94 grenade launcher is designated 'LPO-97' (Legkiy Pekhotnyy Ognemet, or light infantry flamethrower) in the Russian military lexicon.

— david hambling, Popular Mechanics, "Will Russia Really Make Drones Armed With Flamethrowers?," 24 Dec. 2015

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lexicon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Tips on Using lexicon in a Sentence

The word lexicon has a number of closely-related meanings, which can easily lead to confusion and may cause the word to be used in an awkward way. Lexicon can refer to a general dictionary of a language (as in "a lexicon of the Hebrew language") and also to a narrower printed compilation of words within some sphere (as in "a medical lexicon" or "a lexicon of the German in Finnegans Wake").

Similarly, lexicon can refer both to the vocabulary of a specific group of people ("the lexicon of French") or to the general language used by an unspecified group of people ("a word that has not entered the general lexicon yet"). It may also often be found in reference to the vocabulary employed by a particular speaker ("'Failure' is not a word in my lexicon").