• Listeme

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: lÄ­st'Ä“m, IPA: /ˈlɪstiːm/

    Origin

    list + -eme.

    Full definition of listeme

    Noun

    listeme

    (plural listemes)
    1. (linguistics) An item that is memorized as part of a list, as opposed to being generated by a rule.Idioms such as "red herring" are listemes, as are irregular forms such as "geese".
      • 2000, Steven Pinker, Words and Rules, A memorized chunk is sometimes called a listeme, that is, an item that has to be memorized as part of a list; one can argue that this book ought to have been called Listemes and Rules.
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