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word

Smallest linguistic element that will be said in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content

EntityQ8171

Also known as DefinedTerm

Subclass of: word or phrase
, lexical item
Part of: phraseme

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its definition and numerous attempts to find specific criteria of the concept remain controversial. Different standards have been proposed, depending on the theoretical background and descriptive context; these do not converge on a single definition. Some specific definitions of the term "word" are employed to convey its different meanings at different levels of description, for example based on phonological, grammatical or orthographic basis. Others suggest that the concept is simply a convention used in everyday situations.

Overview

All data

61 statements · 20% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Members / parts: word stem
syllable
Has characteristic: morphosyntactic word syntax clarification: has inflected forms
type of word or phrase
Different from: Pulong
orthographic word
phonological word
lexeme
morphosyntactic word
Opposite of: non-word
Related category: Category:Types of words

On other databases

42 identifiers linking word across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

20%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 8, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). word (Q8171). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/word-Q8171