lexicon

Definitions

From Greek lexikon (biblion), a 'word-book.' English borrowed it whole. It still means a stock of words — sometimes a literal dictionary, more often the whole vocabulary of a language, field, or group ('the lexicon of finance').

Common Collocations

• 1.the everyday lexicon日常用语
• 2.enter the lexicon进入通用词汇
• 3.a shared lexicon共同词汇
• 4.lexicon of……的术语

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The slang quickly entered the everyday lexicon of teenagers.

• 2.

  She compiled a lexicon of medieval legal terms.

• 3.

  "Selfie" is now part of the global lexicon.

Easily Confused

lexicon vs vocabulary vs dictionary — dictionary is the physical/digital book of definitions. vocabulary is the set of words someone knows or uses (a child's vocabulary). lexicon overlaps with both but is more formal and often means the whole word-stock of a language or field, or a specialist dictionary.