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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
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
Today, Americanisms are easy for modern lexicographers to find because of the internet and access to large data sets.
—Sarah Ogilvie, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2023
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Words for Dictionary Supernerds
As with all specialized fields, those involved in dictionary making employ terms in their work that most other people never encounter. If you’re a dictionary supernerd, you might be interested to know them.
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Cite this Entry
“Lexicographer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lexicographer. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
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lexicographer
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