Etymology
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grapheme (n.)

1937, apparently coined by U.S. linguistics professor William Freeman Twaddell (1906-1982), from graph "letter, symbol" (see -graphy) + -eme "unit of language structure." Related: Graphemic.

Entries linking to grapheme

-graphy 
word-forming element meaning "process of writing or recording" or "a writing, recording, or description" (in modern use especially in forming names of descriptive sciences), from French or German -graphie, from Greek -graphia "description of," used in abstract nouns from graphein "write, express by written characters," earlier "to draw, represent by lines drawn," originally "to scrape, scratch" (on clay tablets with a stylus), from PIE root *gerbh- "to scratch, carve" (see carve).
-eme 
in linguistics, noted as an active suffix and word-formation element from 1953; from French -ème "unit, sound," from phonème (see phoneme).
allograph (n.)
"writing made by another person," by 1900, from allo- "other" + -graph "something written." Especially in law, "a deed not written by any of the parties to it." Linguistics sense "form of an alphabetic letter" is from 1951, with second element abstracted from grapheme. Related: Allographic.

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Definitions of grapheme

grapheme (n.)
a written symbol that is used to represent speech;
Synonyms: character / graph / graphic symbol
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near grapheme

grapefruit

grapeshot

grapevine

graph

-graph

grapheme

graphic

graphics

graphite

graphology

graphomania

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