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-1‘to gather, collect’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*légō2reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέγω1légō‘to speak’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέξις1léxis‘a saying, speech, word’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλεξικός1lexikós‘of words’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλεξικὸν βιβλίον1literally ‘a book of words’
- Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453λεξικόν1lexikón‘a lexicon, a dictionary’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900lexicon1‘a dictionary, a lexicon’
- Englishearliest quotation 1979lexicon1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English lexicon
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λέγω
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Charles C. Lemert, Language, Structure, and Measurement: Structuralist Semiotic: “Formalism seeks to correct this deficiency by translating verbal…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-Wiktionary, English lexicon‘to gather, collect’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*légōWiktionary, Ancient Greek λέγωreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέγωWiktionary, English lexiconlégō‘to speak’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλέξιςWiktionary, English lexiconléxis‘a saying, speech, word’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλεξικόςWiktionary, English lexiconlexikós‘of words’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλεξικὸν βιβλίονWiktionary, English lexiconliterally ‘a book of words’
- Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453λεξικόνWiktionary, English lexiconlexikón‘a lexicon, a dictionary’
- New Latinc. 1500–1900lexiconWiktionary, English lexicon‘a dictionary, a lexicon’
- Englishearliest quotation 1979lexiconWiktionary, English lexicon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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, 162 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.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “lexicon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek λέγω. 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- / lexicon