noun

• A basic lexical unit of a language consisting of one word or several words, the elements of which do not separately convey the meaning of the whole.

  ‘On this account, the word based theories posit that lexical relations in Semitic languages are linked to derivations involving lexemes and morphemes.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Linguists might call the monster on the ice-floes a floating signifier, a lexeme whose meaning varies contextually.’
  • ‘The resulting semantico-functional variant of a lexeme performs a different function in speech.’
  • ‘Therefore, high imageability words will easily and uniquely access their corresponding lexemes.’
  • ‘This may be a consequence of abnormally rapid decay of lexemes in the phonological output lexicon.’