lexicalised

Lexicalised is the British spelling of lexicalized, the past participle and adjective form of the verb lexicalise. It describes something that has been incorporated into a language’s lexicon as a stable lexical item or fixed expression, rather than remaining a nonce word or a temporary formation.

In linguistics, lexicalisation refers to the process by which a form becomes a recognized word or phrase in a language. This can involve the creation of a new word through affixation, clipping, blending, or borrowing, or the stabilization of a phrase as a single unit with its own dictionary entry and conventional syntax and meaning. A lexicalised item typically can be inflected and used across contexts as a normal word, and it may undergo semantic extension over time.

Common examples of lexicalised items include email, an initialism that has become a standard noun and verb; karaoke; Google as a verb; and spam as a general term for unsolicited messages.

Lexicalisation is distinct from grammaticalisation, where lexical items become function words or grammatical markers, often losing some independent referential meaning. In historical and descriptive linguistics, lexicalisation helps explain how languages expand and regularize their vocabularies. The term also reflects differences in spelling conventions, with British English favouring -ise and American English preferring -ize.