"lex" meaning in English

See lex in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /lɛks/ [UK, US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav Forms: lexes [plural]
Rhymes: -ɛks Etymology: From lexical analysis, from lexical. Head templates: {{en-noun|es}} lex (plural lexes)
  1. (linguistics) A specific inflected form of a word; compare lexeme.
    Sense id: en-lex-en-noun-nB3WT-mM Categories (other): Linguistics, English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 10 44 46 Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Noun

IPA: /lɛks/ [UK, US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav Forms: leges [plural]
Rhymes: -ɛks Etymology: Latin lex (“law”). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|la|lex||law}} Latin lex (“law”) Head templates: {{en-noun|leges}} lex (plural leges)
  1. (history, uncommon) A Roman or Latin law (particularly in ancient Rome or in medieval Europe). Tags: uncommon Related terms: de minimis non curat lex, lex dubia non obligat, lex lata, lex talionis
    Sense id: en-lex-en-noun-DvJkOMlw Categories (other): History, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 7 entries, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 10 44 46 Disambiguation of Pages with 7 entries: 12 41 32 3 3 3 3 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 7 46 38 2 2 2 2 2 Topics: history, human-sciences, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Verb

IPA: /lɛks/ [UK, US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav Forms: lexes [present, singular, third-person], lexing [participle, present], lexed [participle, past], lexed [past]
Rhymes: -ɛks Etymology: From lexical analysis, from lexical. Head templates: {{en-verb}} lex (third-person singular simple present lexes, present participle lexing, simple past and past participle lexed)
  1. (computing) To perform lexical analysis; to convert a character stream to a token stream as a preliminary to parsing. Derived forms: lexer
    Sense id: en-lex-en-verb-RSQlDPJL Categories (other): Computing, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 10 44 46 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 7 46 38 2 2 2 2 2 Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From lexical analysis, from lexical.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lexes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lexing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lexed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lexed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "lex (third-person singular simple present lexes, present participle lexing, simple past and past participle lexed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Computing",
          "orig": "en:Computing",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 44 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 46 38 2 2 2 2 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "lexer"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              45,
              50
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1994, Donna K Harman, National Institute of Standards and Technology, The Second Text REtrieval Conference (TREC-2):",
          "text": "Once this is done, each processor parses and lexes its own documents, using conventional programming techniques.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              15,
              20
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2004, Richard William Sharp, Higher-level hardware synthesis:",
          "text": "SAFL source is lexed and parsed into an abstract syntax tree.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              6
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Don Syme with Adam Granicz and Antonio Cisternino, Expert F#:",
          "text": "Lexing and parsing do not have to be separated, and there are often convenient .NET methods for extracting information from text in particular formats...",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To perform lexical analysis; to convert a character stream to a token stream as a preliminary to parsing."
      ],
      "id": "en-lex-en-verb-RSQlDPJL",
      "links": [
        [
          "computing",
          "computing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "lexical analysis",
          "lexical analysis"
        ],
        [
          "convert",
          "convert"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "token",
          "token"
        ],
        [
          "parsing",
          "parsing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(computing) To perform lexical analysis; to convert a character stream to a token stream as a preliminary to parsing."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lɛks/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛks"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lex"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "leks"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lex"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From lexical analysis, from lexical.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lexes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "es"
      },
      "expansion": "lex (plural lexes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Linguistics",
          "orig": "en:Linguistics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 44 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A specific inflected form of a word; compare lexeme."
      ],
      "id": "en-lex-en-noun-nB3WT-mM",
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "inflect",
          "inflect"
        ],
        [
          "lexeme",
          "lexeme"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics) A specific inflected form of a word; compare lexeme."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lɛks/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛks"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lex"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "leks"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lex"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "lex",
        "4": "",
        "5": "law"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin lex (“law”)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Latin lex (“law”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "leges",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "leges"
      },
      "expansion": "lex (plural leges)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "History",
          "orig": "en:History",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 44 46",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 41 32 3 3 3 3 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 7 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 46 38 2 2 2 2 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              31,
              34
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1891, William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 55:",
          "text": "The 19th and 20th lines of the lex on the tablet (which decree the repeal of the rectigalia) seem to be conclusive in favour of this and against Rudorff's earlier theory.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              73,
              78
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2018 October 18, Paul R. Hyams, Rancor and Reconciliation in Medieval England, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 96:",
          "text": "Sanctuary arrangements show strong parallels to other regulations in the leges concerning feud and the prosecution of theft.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A Roman or Latin law (particularly in ancient Rome or in medieval Europe)."
      ],
      "id": "en-lex-en-noun-DvJkOMlw",
      "links": [
        [
          "history",
          "history"
        ],
        [
          "Roman",
          "Roman"
        ],
        [
          "Latin",
          "Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(history, uncommon) A Roman or Latin law (particularly in ancient Rome or in medieval Europe)."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "de minimis non curat lex"
        },
        {
          "word": "lex dubia non obligat"
        },
        {
          "word": "lex lata"
        },
        {
          "word": "lex talionis"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncommon"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "history",
        "human-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lɛks/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛks"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lex"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "leks"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lex"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms borrowed from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 7 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛks",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛks/1 syllable"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "lexer"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From lexical analysis, from lexical.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lexes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lexing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lexed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lexed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "lex (third-person singular simple present lexes, present participle lexing, simple past and past participle lexed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Computing"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              45,
              50
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1994, Donna K Harman, National Institute of Standards and Technology, The Second Text REtrieval Conference (TREC-2):",
          "text": "Once this is done, each processor parses and lexes its own documents, using conventional programming techniques.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              15,
              20
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2004, Richard William Sharp, Higher-level hardware synthesis:",
          "text": "SAFL source is lexed and parsed into an abstract syntax tree.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              6
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007, Don Syme with Adam Granicz and Antonio Cisternino, Expert F#:",
          "text": "Lexing and parsing do not have to be separated, and there are often convenient .NET methods for extracting information from text in particular formats...",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To perform lexical analysis; to convert a character stream to a token stream as a preliminary to parsing."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "computing",
          "computing#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "lexical analysis",
          "lexical analysis"
        ],
        [
          "convert",
          "convert"
        ],
        [
          "character",
          "character"
        ],
        [
          "token",
          "token"
        ],
        [
          "parsing",
          "parsing"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(computing) To perform lexical analysis; to convert a character stream to a token stream as a preliminary to parsing."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "computing",
        "engineering",
        "mathematics",
        "natural-sciences",
        "physical-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lɛks/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛks"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lex"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "leks"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lex"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms borrowed from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 7 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛks",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛks/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_text": "From lexical analysis, from lexical.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lexes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "es"
      },
      "expansion": "lex (plural lexes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Linguistics"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A specific inflected form of a word; compare lexeme."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "linguistics",
          "linguistics"
        ],
        [
          "inflect",
          "inflect"
        ],
        [
          "lexeme",
          "lexeme"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(linguistics) A specific inflected form of a word; compare lexeme."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lɛks/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛks"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lex"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "leks"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lex"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms borrowed from Latin",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "Pages with 7 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛks",
    "Rhymes:English/ɛks/1 syllable"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "lex",
        "4": "",
        "5": "law"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin lex (“law”)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Latin lex (“law”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "leges",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "leges"
      },
      "expansion": "lex (plural leges)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "de minimis non curat lex"
    },
    {
      "word": "lex dubia non obligat"
    },
    {
      "word": "lex lata"
    },
    {
      "word": "lex talionis"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with uncommon senses",
        "en:History"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              31,
              34
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1891, William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 55:",
          "text": "The 19th and 20th lines of the lex on the tablet (which decree the repeal of the rectigalia) seem to be conclusive in favour of this and against Rudorff's earlier theory.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              73,
              78
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2018 October 18, Paul R. Hyams, Rancor and Reconciliation in Medieval England, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 96:",
          "text": "Sanctuary arrangements show strong parallels to other regulations in the leges concerning feud and the prosecution of theft.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A Roman or Latin law (particularly in ancient Rome or in medieval Europe)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "history",
          "history"
        ],
        [
          "Roman",
          "Roman"
        ],
        [
          "Latin",
          "Latin"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(history, uncommon) A Roman or Latin law (particularly in ancient Rome or in medieval Europe)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncommon"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "history",
        "human-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/lɛks/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lex.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-lex.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɛks"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "Lex"
    },
    {
      "homophone": "leks"
    }
  ],
  "word": "lex"
}

Download raw JSONL data for lex meaning in English (6.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-04-01 using wiktextract (7de0cf9 and 9452535). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.