This paper presents the requirements and implementation details for a new core module of the OntoLex-Lemon model, representing the first major evolution of the de-facto standard since its 2016 release. While the original model successfully bridged ontologies and dictionaries through “semantics by reference,” community adoption has identified critical gaps in handling lexicographic structures and retrodigitized resources. We detail a community-driven methodology that identified fifteen key requirements and we present a proposed architecture for the new OntoLex core, which integrates elements from the Lexicography module and addresses both semantic web and lexicography use cases. Further, we improve interoperability with standards like DMLex and TEI-Lex0 while maintaining strict backwards compatibility for existing users of the model.