Each line in lexnames contains 3 tab separated fields, and is terminated with a newline character. The first field is the two digit decimal integer file number. (The first file in the list is numbered 00.) The second field is the name of the lexicographer file that is represented by that number, and the third field is an integer that indicates the syntactic category of the synsets contained in the file. This is simply a shortcut for programs and scripts, since the syntactic category is also part of the lexicographer file's name.

The syntactic category field is encoded as follows:

1	NOUN
2	VERB
3	ADJECTIVE
4	ADVERB

The names of the lexicographer files and their corresponding file numbers are listed below along with a brief description each file's contents.

center ; l l l. File Number Name Contents _ 00 adj.all all adjective clusters 01 adj.pert relational adjectives (pertainyms) 02 adv.all all adverbs 03 noun.Tops unique beginners for nouns 04 noun.act nouns denoting acts or actions 05 noun.animal nouns denoting animals 06 noun.artifact nouns denoting man-made objects 07 noun.attribute nouns denoting attributes of people and objects 08 noun.body nouns denoting body parts 09 noun.cognition nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents 10 noun.communication nouns denoting communicative processes and contents 11 noun.event nouns denoting natural events 12 noun.feeling nouns denoting feelings and emotions 13 noun.food nouns denoting foods and drinks 14 noun.group nouns denoting groupings of people or objects 15 noun.location nouns denoting spatial position 16 noun.motive nouns denoting goals 17 noun.object nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made) 18 noun.person nouns denoting people 19 noun.phenomenon nouns denoting natural phenomena 20 noun.plant nouns denoting plants 21 noun.possession nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession 22 noun.process nouns denoting natural processes 23 noun.quantity nouns denoting quantities and units of measure 24 noun.relation nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas 25 noun.shape nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes 26 noun.state nouns denoting stable states of affairs 27 noun.substance nouns denoting substances 28 noun.time nouns denoting time and temporal relations 29 verb.body verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care 30 verb.change verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc. 31 verb.cognition verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting 32 verb.communication verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing 33 verb.competition verbs of fighting, athletic activities 34 verb.consumption verbs of eating and drinking 35 verb.contact verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging 36 verb.creation verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing 37 verb.emotion verbs of feeling 38 verb.motion verbs of walking, flying, swimming 39 verb.perception verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling 40 verb.possession verbs of buying, selling, owning 41 verb.social verbs of political and social activities and events 42 verb.stative verbs of being, having, spatial relations 43 verb.weather verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering 44 adj.ppl participial adjectives