The term lexeme, or lexical item, refers to the underlying units involved, "word" being then reserved for grammatical use. Lexemes are thus the minimal units of vocabulary, and thus of semantics (if. "phonemes" in phonology). It is lexemes which tend to be listed as the head-words in dictionary entries.

What are the examples of lexeme?

The term lexeme means a language's most basic unit of meaning, often also thought of as a word in its most basic form. Not all lexemes consist of just one word, though, as a combination of words are necessary to convey the intended meaning. Examples of lexemes include walk, fire station, and change of heart.

What is a lexeme in linguistics?

A lexeme is a theoretical construct that stands for the unitary meaning and shared syntactic properties of a group of word forms. A lexeme is stripped of any inflectional endings. Thus play, plays, played, and playing are all inflected forms of the lexeme play.