'lexicographer' originates from Late Latin, specifically the word 'lexicographus', where 'lexico-' comes from Greek 'lexikon' meaning 'word, vocabulary' and '-graphus' (from Greek 'graphein') meant 'to write'.

'lexicographer' changed from Late Latin 'lexicographus' which itself came from Greek 'lexikographos' and eventually entered English via Medieval/early modern scholarship as 'lexicographer'.

Initially, it meant 'one who writes or compiles word-lists or dictionaries,' and this core meaning has remained largely the same in modern usage.