lexème

\lɛk.sɛm\

/\lɛk.sɛm\/ noun

The verdict

“lexème” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Unité minimale de sens et de forme.

Corpus desk

Index FR-lexeme · lexème · French

lexème · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for lexème
PropertyValue
Headwordlexème
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\lɛk.sɛm\
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « lexème » en français

lexèmereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lexème is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \lɛk.sɛm\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for lexème, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is lexème, spelled L-E-X-È-M-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Unité minimale de sens et de forme.
  2. 2
    Morphème lexical, qui appartient à une liste non finie des mots de la langue.
  3. 3
    Représentation abstraite d’un mot englobant l’ensemble de ses réalisations.
  4. 4
    Occurrence unique d’une suite continue de caractères.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how lexème appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. L’origine onomatopéique d’un lexème est une question diachronique, sans pertinence en tant que telle pour la sémantique de la parole : ainsi, il n’est pas fondamental pour nous de trancher parmi les nombreux cas qui peuvent faire débats (quid de gong, flaque, grogner, grommeler, siffler, claquer, vrombir… ?)
  2. Un lexème verbal est constitué d’un squelette consonantique, d’un schème tonal et d’un support vocalique neutre.

Synonyms

unité lexicalemorphème lexical

Antonyms

grammèmemorphème grammatical

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lexème"?
"lexème" is spelled L-E-X-È-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is \lɛk.sɛm\.
What does "lexème" mean?
As a noun, "lexème" means: Unité minimale de sens et de forme.
How do you pronounce "lexème"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lexème" is \lɛk.sɛm\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lexème" come from?
"lexème" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list