Lexeme

A lexeme is the term used in Linguistics to refer to a minimal unit of language (a word) with a semantic value (distinctive meaning) and often a specific cultural concept attached ot it.

Lexemes are the basic elements of a language. They are made up of one or more form-meaning composites called lexical units.

A lexeme in inflecting languages has a corresponding inflectional paradigm. This means a lexeme in many languages, including English, has different forms.

Verb Lexeme

The above are all forms of the English lexeme love.

Noun Lexeme

The above are all forms of the English lexeme crown.

Adjective Lexeme

The above are all forms of the English lexeme good.

The use of the forms of a lexeme is governed by the rules of grammar.

The English lexeme which holds the record for most forms is be. The absolute minimum number of separate forms it has is 12:

am, are, aren't, been, be, being, is, isn't, was, wasn't, were, weren't.

In some languages (Sanskrit, for example) the number of forms for a verb lexeme is in the high hundreds, and for some others (Turkish, for example) it is in the thousands.