lex meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

lex

verb

UK, US /lɛks/

Etymology From lexical analysis, from lexical.

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To perform lexical analysis; to convert a character stream to a token stream as a preliminary to parsing.

Once this is done, each processor parses and lexes its own documents, using conventional programming techniques.1994, Donna K Harman, National Institute of Standards and Technology, The Second Text REtrieval Conference (TREC-2):
SAFL source is lexed and parsed into an abstract syntax tree.2004, Richard William Sharp, Higher-level hardware synthesis:

1 more example

Lexing and parsing do not have to be separated, and there are often convenient .NET methods for extracting information from text in particular formats...2007, Don Syme with Adam Granicz and Antonio Cisternino, Expert F#:

Derived terms: lexer

lex

noun

Etymology From lexical analysis, from lexical.

Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A specific inflected form of a word; compare lexeme.

lex

noun

Etymology Latin lex (“law”).

History, Human sciences, Sciences Uncommon A Roman or Latin law (particularly in ancient Rome or in medieval Europe).

The 19th and 20th lines of the lex on the tablet (which decree the repeal of the rectigalia) seem to be conclusive in favour of this and against Rudorff's earlier theory.1891, William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, page 55:
Sanctuary arrangements show strong parallels to other regulations in the leges concerning feud and the prosecution of theft.2018 October 18, Paul R. Hyams, Rancor and Reconciliation in Medieval England, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 96:

Related terms: de minimis non curat lex, lex dubia non obligat, lex lata, lex talionis

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.