Lexcrétion

Lexcrétion is a proposed term in linguistics and related fields describing the process by which new lexical items are produced and absorbed into a language's lexicon. It encompasses coinage, derivation, compounding, borrowing, semantic shift, and, in computational settings, the automated generation of novel words by models. The term is not yet standardized in major dictionaries and appears primarily in discussions of neology and vocabulary growth.

It combines the Latin root lex- "word, law" with "crétion" from French création, signaling word creation. Its usage varies; some writers reserve it for human-driven innovation, others use it to refer to both human and machine-driven lexicon expansion.

Lexcrétion operates through several mechanisms: neologism coinage; semantic broadening; clipping and acronym formation; calques and borrowing; and compounding. In natural language processing, lexcrétion also describes the automatic generation of plausible new tokens by language models, which may be adopted by communities if they gain traction. The process is shaped by social factors, stylistic registers, and corpus exposure.

Scholarly use includes diachronic linguistics, sociolinguistics, brand language, and digital culture studies. It is related to concepts such as neology, word formation, lexical borrowing, and language change. The term's openness to both human and machine-generated input reflects contemporary debates about authorship and creativity in language.

See also: neologism, word formation, lexicon, lexical borrowing, computational linguistics.