English
lexicon
Lexicon comes from New Latin lexicon ‘a dictionary, a lexicon’, from Ancient Greek λεξικός ‘of words’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to gather, collect’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*légōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέγωlégō‘to speak’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEλέξιςléxis‘a saying, speech, word’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEλεξικόςlexikós‘of words’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEλεξικὸν βιβλίονliterally ‘a book of words’
- Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453λεξικόνlexikón‘a lexicon, a dictionary’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900lexicon‘a dictionary, a lexicon’
- Englishearliest quotation 1979lexicon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to gather, collect’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*légōreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέγωlégō‘to speak’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEλέξιςléxis‘a saying, speech, word’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEλεξικόςlexikós‘of words’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEλεξικὸν βιβλίονliterally ‘a book of words’
- Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453λεξικόνlexikón‘a lexicon, a dictionary’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900lexicon‘a dictionary, a lexicon’
- Englishearliest quotation 1979lexicon
Earliest quotation: 1979, Charles C. Lemert, Language, Structure, and Measurement: Structuralist Semiotic: “Formalism seeks to correct this deficiency by translating verbal…”
The story
Attested at least since 1583 (in William Fulke's A Defense of the Sincere and True Translations of the Holy Scriptures into the English tongue) in the sense 'a dictionary of a classical language'.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather, collect’
election, collection, elite, select, logic, eligible, apology, lesson, collective, collect, trilogy, elect, sociology, elegant, analogy, terminology, negligence, physiology, pathology, logos, coil, legion, negligent, diligent, negligible, prologue, pathologist, archaeologist, monologue, eulogy, leach, cull, etymology, logistic, epistemology, entomology, homologous, etiology, lignite, lignin, 164 more
through Ancient Greek λέγω ‘to speak’
technology, catalogue, astrology, epilogue, cosmology, gynecologist, dialectical, dialectic, dialogic, 20 more
through Ancient Greek λέξις ‘a saying, speech, word’
Today it means
noun The vocabulary of a language.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- / lexicon