La définition à l’épreuve des dictionnaires

This article is a metalexicographical take on one particular aspect of the microstructure of dictionaries: the definition. It is well known that dictionary definitions inherit Aristotle’s categories of genus and differentia. An appraisal of definitions in dictionaries of the French and English lexicographical traditions shows marked discrepancies in the breakdown of meaning. If the way the semantic actants of lexical units are dealt with in these dictionaries are also taken into account, it becomes clear that traditional lexicography is no more consistent in this regard. For both aspects, some solutions are put forward, which have been provided by different lexical resources and which aim at a more regular formulation of the lexicographic definition.