Where does “lexical item” come from?

lexical item (English) comes from English lexical, from Latin lexis, from Ancient Greek λέξις, from Ancient Greek λέγω, from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- — to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...

lexical item (English): A term (that is, a word or sequence of words) that acts as a unit of meaning, including words, phrases, phrasal verbs and proverbs

Definitions

  1. A term (that is, a word or sequence of words) that acts as a unit of meaning, including words, phrases, phrasal verbs and proverbs

Ancestry of “lexical item”, step by step

lexical item traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English lexical

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishlexicalConcerning the vocabulary, words, sentences or...
2LatinlexisA word
3Ancient Greekλέξιςa saying, speech; word, phrase
4Ancient GreekλέγωI put in order, arrange, gather; I choose, count,...
5Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...

via English item

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishitemA distinct physical object; An object that can be...
2Middle Englishitemalso, and this; the same; identical
3Latinitemjust like
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leǵ-