lexicography

noun [ˌlɛksɪˈkɑɡɹəfi]

pronunciation

Editorial derivation from CMU Pronouncing Dictionary segments via pipeline/ipa-en.mjs (lexicographer ˌlɛksɪˈkɑɡɹəfɚ; -graphy cadence of geography dʒiˈɑɡɹəfi and photography fəˈtɑɡɹəfi); lemma lexicography absent from CMUdict, open source

Lexicography covers dictionary compiling in practice: choosing lemmas, shaping each entry, and ordering the whole volume, separate from lexical theory.

source

Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Definitions

ling. / gram. Practice and method of compiling a dictionary: selecting lemmas, describing senses, adding examples and labels, and shaping entry microstructure plus volume macrostructure. It does not replace lexicology, which studies the lexical system.

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
hist. lex. Historical dictionaries already isolate the craft: Webster 1913 under LEXICOGRAPHY stresses both the maker's work and the rules that guide dictionary building; Arct 1921 enters Leksykografia as dictionary compiling and słownikarstwo. Lexical evidence of older scope.

source
Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 (LEXICOGRAPHY); M. Arct 1921 (Leksykografia), open source
hist. / etym. Skeat 1910 under LEXICON traces λέξις and λέγειν, listing lexico-graphy, lexico-graphical, and lexicographer from γράφειν. Webster cites French lexicographie. Lexical evidence only, not a classroom gloss.

source
Editorial team; facts: W. W. Skeat 1910 (LEXICON); Webster 1913 (LEXICOGRAPHY), open source
colloq. In casual and press talk: a shorthand for any work with a dictionary, without naming lemmatization or structure. Informal range, pending review confirmation.

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Examples

The assignment asked students to mark which editorial choices belong to lexicography (lemma selection, entry shape) and which belong to describing the lexical system.

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
On the course map lexicography stood as a separate craft of compiling the volume; lexicology stayed with the theory of the word stock.

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
His notes recorded that Arct (1921) ties Leksykografia to dictionary compiling, that Webster 1913 prints LEXICOGRAPHY as art and principles, that Skeat 1910 derives lexico-graphy from γράφειν, and that Brückner 1927 leaves the Polish lemma closed.

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
A press comment warned that debate about lexicography without lemmatization and without macrostructure collapses into a bare word list.

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
She contrasted a lexicographic plan for the entry with a plain inventory, asking where compiling ends and lexical theory begins.

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Usage

Everyday English often confuses the lemma with lexicology, or with any tip about looking a word up. Careful prose separates layers: compiling practice (lemmatization, entry microstructure, volume macrostructure, labels), historical-lexical witnesses (Arct on Leksykografia; Webster on LEXICOGRAPHY; Skeat on lexico-graphy under LEXICON), older label overlap (Arct tying słownikarstwo to Leksykografia; Webster keeping LEXICOLOGY apart), and informal shorthand that names no method. Name the layer, or the word slides into lexical theory or taste about a nice entry.

source

Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Under LEXICOGRAPHY Webster 1913 describes how lexicons and dictionaries are made and which principles guide that work; he points to French lexicographie. Nearby stand LEXICOGRAPHER, LEXICOGRAPHIC / LEXICOGRAPHICAL, LEXICON, and LEXICOLOGY. Full quotation belongs in the etymology field; here the glosses remain lexical evidence, not the service definition.

source

Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open source

Skeat under LEXICON traces λέξις and λέγειν (see also LEGEND / legere). Derivatives include lexico-graphy, lexico-graphical, and lexicographer from γράφειν. On the Polish side Arct 1921 prints Leksykografia as dictionary compiling and słownikarstwo; Leksykograf, Leksykologia, and Leksykon stand nearby. OCR is often garbled. Brückner 1927 leaves lemma leksykografia unopened.

source

Editorial team; facts: W. W. Skeat 1910; M. Arct, Słownik wyrazów obcych, 9th ed., Warsaw 1921; A. Brückner 1927 (no lemma leksykografia), open source

Academic prose favours phrases such as lexicographic work, entry microstructure, dictionary macrostructure, lemmatization, and headword article. Lexicographic and lexicographical are the usual adjectives. Careful writers keep the term away from lexicology (theory of the lexical system), morphology (word-internal structure), semantics (sense alone), and phonology (sound system). Borders still vary by author. Treating every vocabulary remark as linguistic lexicography empties the label.

source

Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 (LEXICOGRAPHY), open source

Word forms

Regular English noun. Usually uncountable when naming the craft or discipline (lexicography is...). Countable singular appears in phrases such as a lexicography of slang. Plural lexicographies is rare and appears when contrasting national schools or project traditions.

word forms

przypadek	forma
uncountable (usual)	lexicography
countable singular (a project / tradition)	a lexicography
plural (schools / traditions; rare)	lexicographies
related adjective	lexicographic / lexicographical

Word forms: Editorial team

Collocations

lexicographic work

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
entry microstructure

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
dictionary macrostructure

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
lemmatization

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
headword article

source
Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Synonyms · Antonyms

Synonyms dictionary compiling (editorial didactic approximation; not a full synonym in every register), art or process of making a lexicon (historical neighbour via Webster 1913; not a full substitute for every modern register), method of building a headword volume (didactic approximation; scope to confirm at review)

source

Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Antonyms lexical theory without compiling a volume (classroom contrast: system of lexis versus dictionary making; not a strict modern opposite), pure phonology without lemmatization (classroom foil: sound system against entry compiling; editorial didactic scope), neglect of dictionary structure (contrastive neighbour in debate; editorial label, to confirm at review)

source

Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Etymology

English lexicography is a learned label from the Greek trail through lexicon plus -graphy (γράφειν, to write). Webster 1913 prints LEXICOGRAPHY that way (cf. French lexicographie) as the art, process, or occupation of making a lexicon or dictionary, and as the principles applied when dictionaries are built. Skeat 1910 under LEXICON derives the family from Greek λέξις (a saying, speech, a word) and λέγειν (to speak; see also LEGEND / legere), and notes lexico-graphy, lexico-graphical, and lexicographer among derivatives from γράφειν. Arct (9th ed., 1921) enters Polish Leksykografia with a gloss on dictionary compiling and słownikarstwo; Leksykograf and Leksykon stand nearby. Brückner 1927 has no separate lemma leksykografia. Modern classroom practice usually splits lexicography from lexicology and refuses to treat the noun as casual shorthand for dictionary tips. Service prose is drafted apart from those dictionary wordings. The Polish counterpart noun is leksykografia.

source

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open source

also

W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Oxford 1910 (LEXICON: Gk. λέξις; λέγειν; Der. lexico-graphy), open source

also

M. Arct, Słownik wyrazów obcych, 9th ed., Warsaw 1921 (Leksykografia; Leksykograf; Leksykon), open source

also

A. Brückner, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego, Kraków 1927 (no lemma leksykografia), open source

Related words

lexicographic , adjective: relating to dictionary craft
lexicology , lexical neighbour (ling. / gram.): talk of the lexical system against talk of dictionary craft (Webster 1913; Arct 1921)
semantics , lexical neighbour (ling. / philos.): talk of meaning of language units against talk of dictionary craft
morphology , lexical neighbour (ling. / gram.): talk of word structure against talk of dictionary craft
phonology , lexical neighbour (ling. / gram.): talk of the sound system against talk of dictionary craft
syntax , lexical neighbour (ling. / gram.): talk of clause structure against talk of dictionary craft
pragmatics , lexical neighbour (ling. / philos.): talk of use in situation against talk of dictionary craft
leksykografia , etymologically related Polish noun (Arct: Leksykografia; Skeat/Webster Greek trail)

Related entries

The same entry in Polish: leksykografia

Questions and answers

What does lexicography mean?

It covers practice and principles of compiling a dictionary: lemma choice, lemmatization, entry microstructure, and volume macrostructure. Webster 1913 and Skeat 1910 record the historical trail. Informal talk often flattens the name into vague dictionary talk. Context decides.

source

Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)

Where does the word lexicography come from?

Greek supplies λέξις through lexicon, plus -graphy from γράφειν (to write). Skeat 1910 lists lexico-graphy on that path; Webster 1913 prints LEXICOGRAPHY with a French parallel. Arct 1921 records Polish Leksykografia beside Leksykograf and Leksykon. Brückner 1927 omits a separate Polish lemma.

source

Editorial team; facts: Webster 1913; W. W. Skeat 1910; M. Arct 1921; A. Brückner 1927 (no lemma), open source

How is lexicography pronounced, and what is the IPA?

This page uses /ˌlɛksɪˈkɑɡɹəfi/, assembled from CMUdict lexicographer (ˌlɛksɪˈkɑɡɹəfɚ) and the -graphy cadence of geography and photography via pipeline/ipa-en.mjs. Because CMUdict itself omits the lemma, the transcription stays provisional. Usual adjectives are lexicographic and lexicographical.

source

Editorial team; facts: CMU Pronouncing Dictionary via pipeline/ipa-en.mjs (lemma lexicography absent; lexicographer present), open source

How does lexicography differ from lexicology, and is it the same as Polish leksykografia?

Lexicography asks how dictionaries are compiled. Lexicology asks how the word stock forms a system. Polish leksykografia is the matching classroom noun. The split is editorial and didactic; everyday speech often blurs both labels.

source

Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)