seme (n.)

A term used by some European LINGUISTS (e.g. Eugen Coseriu (1921– 2002)), to refer to minimal DISTINCTIVE SEMANTIC FEATURES operating within a specific semantic FIELD, e.g. the various defining properties of cups v. glasses, such as ‘having a handle’, ‘made of glass’. In this approach, semes contrast with CLASSEMES, which are features of a much more general kind, e.g. ‘male’, ‘animate’.