sememe
/ˈsɛmiːm/
noun
- The smallest unit of meaning in a language; a single sense or meaning of a word or morpheme.
- The word 'bank' has several sememes, including a financial institution and a river's edge.
- In the dictionary, each numbered definition represents a different sememe of the word.
- Linguists analyze each sememe to understand how words carry different meanings in different contexts.