Meanings
plural lexicographers
- One who writes or compiles a dictionary.
Pitt has furnish'd us a word or two / Which lexicographers declined to do.
1811, George Gordon Byron, Hints from Horace3 more examples
Lexico′grapher. […] A writer of dictionaries; a harmleſs drudge, that buſies himſelf in tracing the original, and detailing the ſignification of words.
[1755 April 15, Samuel Johnson, “Lexico′grapher”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume II (L–Z), London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton; […], →OCLC, column 1The best lexicographer may well be content if his productions are received by the world with cold esteem.
1860, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Biographies contributed to the Encyclopædia BritannicaWould-be lexicographers beware: this job comes with a health warning – you will never look at words in the same way again.
2007 May 10, Emily Ford, “How do I become… a lexicographer?”, in The Times, LondonSynonyms: dictionarian, dictionarist, lexicographist
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne who writes or compiles a dictionary.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna compiler or writer of a dictionary; a student of the lexical component of language
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekλεξικός“of words”
- Frenchlexicographe
- Englishlexicographer
From French lexicographe + -er, from Ancient Greek λεξικός (lexikós, “of words”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”). By surface analysis, lexico- + -grapher.
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan lexicògraf, lexicògrafa
- lexicògrafone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- lexicògrafaone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Chinese Mandarin 詞典編纂者 /词典编纂者
- 詞典編纂者 /词典编纂者 (cídiǎn biānzuǎn zhě)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
Czech lexikograf, slovníkář
- lexikografone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- slovníkářone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Danish leksikograf
- leksikografone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Dutch lexicograaf
- lexicograafone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Estonian leksikograaf
- leksikograafone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Finnish sanakirjantekijä, sanakirjantoimittaja
- sanakirjantekijäone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- sanakirjantoimittajaone who writes or compiles a dictionary
French lexicographe
- lexicographeone who writes or compiles a dictionary
German Lexikograf, Lexikografin
- Lexikografone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- Lexikografinone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Greek λεξικογράφος
- λεξικογράφος (lexikográfos)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
Hindi कोशकार
- कोशकार (kośkār)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
Hungarian szótáríró
- szótáríróone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Indonesian leksikograf, pekamus
- leksikografone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- pekamusone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- penyusun kamusone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Irish foclóirí
- foclóiríone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Italian lessicografo, lessicografa
- lessicografoone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- lessicografaone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Japanese 辞書編集者
- 辞書編集者 (jisho henshūsha)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
Korean 사전 편찬자
- 사전 편찬자 (sajeon pyeonchanja)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
Latvian leksikogrāfs, leksikogrāfe
- leksikogrāfsone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- leksikogrāfeone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Lithuanian leksikografas, žodýnininkas
- leksikografasone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- žodýnininkasone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- žodýnininkėone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Malay pekamus, penyusun kamus
- pekamusone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- penyusun kamusone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Norwegian Bokmål leksikograf
- leksikografone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Polish leksykograf
- leksykografone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Portuguese lexicógrafo, dicionarista
- lexicógrafoone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- dicionaristaone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Punjabi ਕੋਸ਼ਕਾਰ
- ਕੋਸ਼ਕਾਰ (kośkār)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
Romanian lexicograf, lexicografă
- lexicografone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- lexicografăone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Russian лексико́граф, слова́рник
- лексико́граф (leksikógraf)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
- слова́рник (slovárnik)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
Scottish Gaelic faclairiche, facladair
- faclairicheone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- facladairone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Spanish lexicógrafo, lexicógrafa
- lexicógrafoone who writes or compiles a dictionary
- lexicógrafaone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Swahili mwanaleksikografia
- mwanaleksikografiaone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Swedish lexikograf
- lexikografone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Tagalog leksikograpo
- leksikograpoone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Turkish sözlükçü
- sözlükçüone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Ukrainian лексико́граф, словника́р
- лексико́граф (leksykóhraf)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
- словника́р (slovnykár)one who writes or compiles a dictionary
Welsh geiriadurwr
- geiriadurwrone who writes or compiles a dictionary
Cite this entry
lexicographer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lexicographer
“lexicographer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lexicographer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lexicographer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lexicographer.
Source: lexicographer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.