Lexigraph

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A written symbol that stands for an entire word rather than a single sound or letter
2. A character or sign that represents a complete word in a writing system, as opposed to a syllable or letter
3. Something written that encodes one whole word within a script, such as a logogram

Etymology: "Lexigraph" is built from two Greek elements: "lexis," meaning "word" or "speech," and "graphein," meaning "to write." The result is a compound with a transparent literal sense, "word-writing," and it describes a character that stands for an entire word rather than a sound or a single letter. Logographic writing systems such as Chinese characters are the classic examples, so the term names a category of script that the alphabet-minded English tradition had little reason to distinguish until the vocabulary of writing systems grew more precise. The construction follows a pattern common in modern technical English, where Greek combining forms are assembled to name new distinctions. Compare "lexicon," which is built on the same "lexis" root and once meant a word-list or dictionary, or "graph," the general suffix found in words such as "photograph" and "autograph." The element "-graph" has been productive since the nineteenth century, so "lexigraph" belongs to that wave of coinages rather than to classical Greek usage, where "lexigraphos" would not have named a sign of this kind.

Synonyms: lexicographer