PsychologyJuly 17, 2026
lexicon
/ˈlɛksɪkən/
Definition
A structured database or collection of words, phrases, and associated data used by computer algorithms to categorize sentiment or emotion in text.
Etymology
The word originates from the Greek 'lexikon', meaning 'vocabulary' or 'of words', derived from 'lexis' (speech or word). It entered English in the 17th century, originally referring to a book containing a language's vocabulary.
In the news
In this article, researchers used emotion lexicons as digital dictionaries to teach a computer how to identify and measure specific feelings of fear and anger within thousands of Reddit posts.
Reddit data reveals federal health workers hit a breaking point as anger surpasses pandemic levels
Read the full article ↗EurekAlert!