main entry word

n.

1.

The form of a word that heads a lexical entry and is alphabetized in a dictionary; also called entry word, headword, and lemma.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

main entry word - the form of a word that heads a lexical entry and is alphabetized in a dictionary citation form, entry word descriptor, form, signifier, word form - the phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something; "the inflected forms of a word can be represented by a stem and a list of inflections to be attached" dictionary entry, lexical entry - the entry in a dictionary of information about a word