Meanings
- uncountableThe loss or removal of all or part of the original semantic content (meaning) of a word or morpheme, sometimes (but not always) as part of grammaticalization.
Desemanticization. The meaning of forms tends to shift from more concrete to more abstract in grammaticalization. This happens through the loss of concrete semantic features that were part of the original form but have been “bleached out” […]
2003, Karen Emmorey, Perspectives on Classifier Constructions in Sign Languages, Psychology Press, →ISBN1 more example
[…] Desemanticization By this process, a lexical item receives a second, non-lexical function, which may ultimately become its only function. Thus, in addition to its lexical meaning, a word receives […] Once again, this leads to the desemanticization of lexical meaning, namely that of the action verbs […]
1984, Bernd Heine, Mechthild Reh, Grammaticalization and Reanalysis in African Languages, Helmut Buske Verlag Gmbh, →ISBN, pages 39 and 40Synonyms: desemantization
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe loss or removal of all or part of the original semantic content (meaning) of a word or morpheme, sometimes (but not always) as part of grammaticalization.
Cite this entry
desemanticization. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desemanticization
“desemanticization.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desemanticization. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “desemanticization,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desemanticization.
Source: desemanticization on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.