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I'm looking for relevant word roots that could be used to make a word similar to lexicon. However, instead of a collection of words, I'm thinking of a collection of concepts and schema. The catalog could be downloaded into a newly birthed creature to give them a concept of how to live in the world and to know what is dangerous and what is safe. For example, a being with this catalog downloaded into their mind could recall a memory of the sound of a river without ever actually being by a river.

If anyone knows what word roots I could use, help would be appreciated. Note that I am referring mainly to roots like lexi- (Greek for vocabulary). If someone does not know relevant roots, but knows of a database of word roots where I might find relevant roots myself, such help would also be appreciated.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thesaurus perhaps? $\endgroup$ – user58697 Dec 24 '16 at 21:31
  • $\begingroup$ Isn't this a question for english.stackexchange.com ? $\endgroup$ – Mołot Dec 24 '16 at 23:12
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    $\begingroup$ Are you asking for what to call it or where to find that info? You ask both to some extent $\endgroup$ – Zxyrra Dec 24 '16 at 23:18
  • $\begingroup$ I've been wanting a new site too: WordBuilding. I want the OED to take all the requests for new words and see which ones are voted on and make them. Until then, I'm just making up my own ones. Plausify is my current favorite because you don't have to explain much about it, it's intuitive to most people. $\endgroup$ – Thom Blair III Dec 24 '16 at 23:43
  • $\begingroup$ What about a 'playbook'? $\endgroup$ – Xavon_Wrentaile Dec 25 '16 at 0:54
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Some ideas that come to mind:

  • meme + index : memedex

  • meme + catalog : memelog

  • meme + landscape : memescape

  • network of connected ideas : ideograph (already a real word, so maybe "mega ideograph")

  • retcon idea

  • idea + cache : ideocache

  • mindspace

  • memory bank

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Ontology

In computer science and information science, a formal model of the world made of types ("concepts"), properties and relations is called an "ontology". It is used to create intelligent systems which can deduce information for given facts based on this model, e.g. "I have found a yellow fruit of the size of an apple, is it save to eat?".

More on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology_(information_science)

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I simply suggest encyclopaedia because of this connection with the education of a new being. Etymology : general (or circular) education.

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Paradigm

What you seem to be describing is a premade template of ideas that is installed as the starter mindset or worldview for new beings. The word "paradigm" might fit this description:

par·a·digm (ˈperəˌdīm) noun

  1. (technical) a typical example or pattern of something; a model.
    "there is a new paradigm for public art in this country"
    synonyms: model, pattern, example, exemplar, template, standard, prototype, archetype
    "why should your sets of values be the paradigm for the rest of us?"

    • a worldview underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject. "the discovery of universal gravitation became the paradigm of successful science"

  2. a set of linguistic items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles.
    "English determiners form a paradigm: we can say “a book” or “his book” but not “a his book.”"

Etymology
late 15th century: via late Latin from Greek paradeigma, from paradeiknunai ‘show side by side,’ from para- ‘beside’ + deiknunai ‘to show.’

Pre-Learning

You might also like something like "pre-learning":
"The first generation of youth will be born with our proprietary Pre-Learning paradigm of knowledge. By the year 2035, we hope to upgrade Pre-Learning to include not just words, but also sights, tastes, smells--memories of all the five senses."

Other Words

Some other words that might make good roots:
model, example, original, pattern, ideal, norm, perspective, prototype, archetype, exemplar, beau ideal, example, ideal, mirror, model, pattern, standard, view

Genetic Memory

Genetic memory is an existing term that might also fit your needs:

In psychology, genetic memory is a memory present at birth that exists in the absence of sensory experience, and is incorporated into the genome over long spans of time. It is based on the idea that common experiences of a species become incorporated into its genetic code, not by a Lamarckian process that encodes specific memories but by a much vaguer tendency to encode a readiness to respond in certain ways to certain stimuli.

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