/ sɪˈmæntiːm; NAmE / (also seme /siːm/) noun
( linguistics ) the smallest possible unit of meaning
—compare sememe
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WORD ORIGIN
early 20th cent.: from French sémantème , from sémantique (from Greek sēmantikos significant, from sēmainein signify, from sēma sign), on the pattern of words such as morphème morpheme.