word
The smallest unit of language that has a particular meaning and can be expressed by itself; the smallest discrete, meaningful unit of language. contrast morpheme.
Other meanings
The smallest discrete unit of spoken language with a particular meaning, composed of one or more phonemes and one or more morphemes
The smallest discrete unit of written language with a particular meaning, composed of one or more letters or symbols and one or more morphemes
Example sentences
Word history
From Old English "word".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “word” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.