hapax legomenon

noun

ha·​pax le·​go·​me·​non ˌha-ˌpaks-li-ˈgä-mə-ˌnän How to pronounce hapax legomenon (audio)
ˌhä-ˌpäks-,
-nən
plural hapax legomena ˌha-ˌpaks-li-ˈgä-mə-nə How to pronounce hapax legomenon (audio)
ˌhä-ˌpäks-
: a word or form occurring only once in a document or corpus

Word History

Etymology

Greek, something said only once

First Known Use

1692, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hapax legomenon was in 1692

Dictionary Entries Near hapax legomenon

hapax

hapax legomenon

hapchance

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Hapax legomenon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hapax%20legomenon. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

9 Superb Owl Words

15 Words That Used to Mean Something Different
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
sweet smart pug puppy dog sitting in front of blackboard with chalk question marks
Commonly Confused Words Quiz Vol. 3 Do you have a (flare/flair) for choosing the righ...