semanteme

S1E1M3A1N1T1E1M3E1

noun

an indivisible unit of meaning.

OriginEnglish phonemeclip. ← Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma) →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

nounsemanteme (plural semantemes)

plural semantemes

  1. human sciencesan indivisible unit of meaning.

    Toong Cheong spoke more rapidly now, and urgency and embarrassment reduced his speech to essential semantemes.

    1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 53

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
lexeme

Origin

  1. Englishsemantic
  2. Ancient Greekφώνημα (phṓnēma)
  3. Englishphonemeclip.
  4. Englishsemanteme

From semantic + -eme.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Italian semantema
  • semantema''noun''
Polish semantem
  • semantem''noun''
Portuguese semantema
  • semantema''noun''
Spanish semantema
  • semantema''noun''
Turkish kökanlam
  • kökanlam''noun''
Cite this entry
APA

semanteme. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semanteme

MLA

“semanteme.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semanteme. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “semanteme,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/semanteme.

Source: semanteme on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.