Meanings
plural dislexifications
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe linguistic pattern whereby a given language must encode separate meanings using separate words, as opposed to colexifying them with a single polysemous word.
This pattern of dislexification {arm ≠ hand} has been preserved intact in modern Romance languages, all of which contrast ‘arm’ vs. ‘hand’.
2022 June 9, Alexandre François, “Lexical tectonics: Mapping structural change in patterns of lexification”, in Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft, page 97Synonyms: distinction, distinguo · Antonyms: colexification, polysemy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe linguistic pattern whereby a given language must encode separate meanings using separate words, as opposed to colexifying them with a single polysemous word.
Origin
By surface analysis, dis- + lexi- + -ification.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
dislexification. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislexification
“dislexification.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislexification. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dislexification,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislexification.
Source: dislexification on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.