wikipedia
English

Etymology
From AGr. term|scpolytonic|��αξ λεγ�μενον||(something) said only once|langgrc.

Pronunciation
a|RP IPA|/�hæpæks�l��g�m�n�n/

Noun
en-noun|hapax legomen|a|sg=hapax legomenon

1. A word occurring only once in a given corpus.

#*2000, Steven Pinker, Words and Rules ISBN 0-465-07269-0, page 172
#*: There is a lovely technical term for a word that appears once in a body of text: a hapax legomenon (plural: hapax legomena), Greek for �once said.� The term comes from philology, the study of old texts.

Usage notes
The corpus in question is generally implied by context. Commonly it will be one of:
:* A known corpus of a given language
:* The works of a given author
:* A particular work
:* A book of the Bible

Synonyms
hapax

See also
googlewhack
nonce word
sui generis

Category:Classical studies

fr:hapax legomenon
ru:hapax legomenon

• 2007-12-30 11:51 - Williamsayers79 - format upated, use templates where appropriate

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