ABSTRACT
We are all familiar with dictionaries. They are indispensable for anyone concerned with language, because they list the practical totality of the words in a given language. This totality is known as the lexis of a language (adj. lexical). But it is vital to remember that meanings are not found exclusively in the words listed individually in the dictionary. Any text shows that the combination of words creates meanings that they do not have in isolation, and even meanings that are not wholly predictable from the senses of the words combined.
