A word that occurs only once in a text, author's works, or the entire recorded corpus of a language.
From Greek 'hapax legomenon' (something said once). Shakespeare created many hapax legomena — words used once and never again. Each one is a tiny linguistic miracle.
A word that appears ONLY ONCE in all of recorded language! Some words in the Bible and Shakespeare appear exactly ONE time and scholars spend careers trying to figure out what they mean! Every hapax is a ghost whispering! 👻📜
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.