content word
- noun
- /ˈkɒntɛnt wɜrd/
- Specialized
:
palabra de contenido
- When learning a new language, students often focus on content words to build their vocabulary.
Examples
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In linguistics, nouns and verbs are examples of content words that convey significant meaning.
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Understanding content words is essential for grasping the main ideas of a sentence.
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How many content words does sentence A have?
Synonyms
A type of word that often gets new words, like nouns and verbs
How Meaningful
- Formal
122
6.4
- Specialized
- Specialized
6
4.0
- Informal
2
3.4
- Informal
∞
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a word that carries significant meaning' is directly and compositionally derived from 'content' (information) + 'word' (a distinct meaningful element). This compound follows a transparent noun-noun pattern and corresponds to similar distinctions in many languages (lexical vs. function words), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Content word comes from the idea that content means what is inside and word is a piece of language, so think of a content word as a small box full of meaning. That's why content word means a word that carries most of the information in a sentence, unlike 'function words' such as 'and' or 'the'.