lexicology

n. study of words (their history, meaning, structure, etc.)

Not to be mistaken with lexicography.Lexicology (from lexiko-, in the Late Greek lexikon) is that part of linguistics, which studies words, their nature and meaning, words' elements, relations between words (semantical relations), words groups and the whole lexicon. The term first appeared in the 1820s, though there were lexicologists in the straight meaning even before that. Computational lexicology as a related field (in the same way that computational linguistics is related to linguistics) deals with the computational study of dictionaries and their contents. An allied science to lexicology is lexicography, which also studies words in relation with dictionaries - it is actually concerned with the inclusion of words in dictionaries and from that perspective with the whole lexicon. Therefore lexicography is the theory and practice of composing dictionaries. Sometimes lexicography is considered to be a part or a branch of lexicology, but the two disciplines should not be mistaken: lexicographers are the people who write dictionaries, they are at the same time lexicologists too, but not all lexicologists are lexicographers! It is said that lexicography is the practical lexicology, it is practically oriented though it has its own theory, while the pure lexicology is mainly theoretical.
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Noun
1. the branch of linguistics that studies the lexical component of language
(hypernym) linguistics
(hyponym) onomastics

(n.)
The science of the derivation and signification of words; that branch of learning which treats of the signification and application of words.
  

Synonyms and related words:
bowwow theory, comparative linguistics, derivation, descriptive linguistics, dialectology, dingdong theory, etymology, glossematics, glossography, glossology, glottochronology, glottology, grammar, graphemics, historical linguistics, language study, lexicography, lexicostatistics, lexigraphy, linguistic geography, linguistic science, linguistics, mathematical linguistics, morphology, morphophonemics, onomasiology, onomastics, onomatology, paleography, philology, phonetics, phonology, psycholinguistics, semantics, semasiology, semiotic, semiotics, significs, sociolinguistics, structuralism, syntactics, transformational linguistics