Definition, Meaning & Synonyms
lexeme
Noun
/ˈlɛk.siːm/
Definition
A lexeme is the fundamental unit of meaning in a language, representing a single word or a group of words derived from the same root but conveying different grammatical forms.
Examples
- The word ‘cat’ represents the lexeme for all its grammatical forms.
- In linguistics, understanding lexemes is crucial for analyzing sentence structures.
- Different languages may have different lexemes for the same concept or object.
Meaning
It refers to the abstract concept of a word, regardless of its specific grammatical forms. For instance, ‘run’, ‘runs’, ‘running’, and ‘ran’ are all forms of the same lexeme.
Synonyms
- Word
- Term
- Unit of meaning
