English
lexical
Lexical comes from Latin lexis ‘a word’, from Ancient Greek λέγω ‘speak’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect, gather’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-1‘to collect, gather’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*légō1‘to gather’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέγω2‘speak’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέξις3léxis‘word’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElexis3‘a word’
- Englishearliest quotation 1988lexical3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λέγω
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λέξις
- 3 Wiktionary, English lexical
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course: “So, it seems clear that the idiosyncratic restrictions relating…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λέγω‘to collect, gather’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*légōWiktionary, Ancient Greek λέγω‘to gather’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέγωWiktionary, Ancient Greek λέξις‘speak’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέξιςWiktionary, English lexicalléxis‘word’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElexisWiktionary, English lexical‘a word’
- Englishearliest quotation 1988lexicalWiktionary, English lexical. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational grammar: a first course: “So, it seems clear that the idiosyncratic restrictions relating…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect, gather’
election, collection, elite, lesson, select, collect, logic, eligible, apology, trilogy, elect, sociology, elegant, coil, terminology, negligence, legion, physiology, pathology, logos, analogy, negligent, monologue, diligent, negligible, prologue, pathologist, archaeologist, eulogy, leach, cull, etymology, logistic, epistemology, entomology, homologous, etiology, lignite, lignin, legation, 162 more
through Proto-Hellenic *légō ‘to gather’
through Ancient Greek λέγω ‘speak’
technology, catalogue, astrology, epilogue, cosmology, gynecologist, dialectic, dialogic, 21 more
through Ancient Greek λέξις ‘word’
Today it means
adj Concerning the vocabulary, words, sentences or morphemes of a language.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “lexical”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek λέγω, Ancient Greek λέξις. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- / lexical