Word.ws English Dictionary

relexicalize

relexicalize verb: to change the lexicon of; to use different words for.

Verb

relexicalize (third-person singular simple present relexicalizes, present participle relexicalizing, simple past and past participle relexicalized)

  1. (transitive) To change the lexicon of; to use different words for.
    • For example, in British newspapers, […] the process of telling someone off or reprimanding them is relexicalized as 'rap'. To criticize strongly is to 'blast' or 'slam', and to investigate is to 'probe'.2013, Michael Higgins, Angela Smith, The Language of Journalism: A Multi-genre Perspective, page 71
  2. (transitive) To borrow or adopt back into a lexicon.
    • to relexicalize a word

Forms of relexicalize

third-person singular presentrelexicalizes
present participlerelexicalizing
past participlerelexicalized
pastrelexicalized

Origin of relexicalize

From re- + lexicalize.

Questions about relexicalize

What does relexicalize mean?
Relexicalize means to change the lexicon of; to use different words for.
What part of speech is relexicalize?
Relexicalize is a verb.
What is the past tense of relexicalize?
The past tense of relexicalize is relexicalized.

Words near relexicalize in the dictionary

  1. relexicalised
  2. relexicalises
  3. relexicalising
  4. relexicalization
  5. relexicalizations
  6. relexicalize
  7. relexicalized
  8. relexicalizes
  9. relexicalizing
  10. relexification
  11. relexifications

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: relexicalize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “relexicalize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/relexicalize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.