ABSTRACT
Lexicography is the discipline that deals with dictionaries and other reference works designed to be consulted in order to retrieve information. Although there is general agreement in the community about this short definition, much more controversial is the disciplinary status of lexicography. Another argument in favour of the independent nature of lexicography is its subject matter which differs completely from that of linguistics. The subject matter of linguistics is language, which is a natural phenomenon rooted in human genes and stimulated by social life, and without which Homo sapiens would not be Homo sapiens. In the contribution, lexicography has been defined as an independent science with a strong interdisciplinary vocation. By independent it is understood that dictionaries have a core of aspects and elements that are common to all of them and different from those of other disciplines.
