the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > syntax or word order > syntactic unit or constituent > [noun] > minimal sequence (3)
Linguistics. The main or central word or words in a compound, phrase, or sentence; (also) = kernel, n.1 8b(a).
Grammar. minimal (also minimum) terminable unit: the main clause of a sentence together with any subordinate clause attached to it, constituting…
a minimal terminable unit (see quot. 1965).