lexis
/ˈlɛksɪs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.45 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The set of all words and phrases in a language; any unified subset of words from a particular language.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Words, collocations, and common phrases in a language; vocabulary and word combinations.
Countable; Uncountable
name
A female given name, variant of Alexis
Example Sentences
- "Thus, alongside current lexis, words and senses now obsolete find a place in a dictionary on historical principles."
- "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."
- "In this broadsheet newspaper, the reporter uses a complicated and formal lexis which I find hard to understand."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-der. Proto-Indo-European *léǵ-e-ti Proto-Hellenic *légō Ancient Greek λέγω (légō) Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Hellenic *-tis Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs) Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs) Ancient Greek λέξῐς (léxĭs)lbor. English lexis Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek λέξις (léxis, “speech, word”).
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ˈlɛksɪs/