Rules of lexical definition

the lexical definitions can, therefore, be accurate or inaccurate depending on how it is used. Lexical definitions assume that the meanings of the words are known (Goddard, Cliff, and Wierzbicka, 2013). For example, when some say a boy, they assume everyone knows a boy is young human of the male gender. To establish the lexical definitions some rules are followed such as; First, lexical definitions should respect the rules of grammar- just like any other explanation in any language lexical definitions should always observe the rules of grammar. Secondly, they should not be shallow neither should a lexical definition be extensively broad. The fifth rule is a lexical definition be positive and not negative where applicable- this means they should avoid negative words or phrases in their definition, for example, Concord is lack of discord (negative) and the accepted side of the statement could be concord means harmony (Pinker and Steven, 2015).