The Institute of Lexicography was founded on 5 October 1950 as a scientific institution devoted to encyclopedistics and lexicography. The founder of the Institute was the Croatian writer, lexicographer, and erudite Miroslav Krleža, who brought together professionals from all scholarly fields and initiated encylopedic-lexicographical activity in modern Croatian society. The Institute was founded in Zagreb, which already had a strong lexicographical tradition, including experience with the Croatian Encyclopedia (1941–45), whose editor-in-chief, Mate Ujević, became Krleža's assistant.

The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography has been gathering, systematically processing, presenting, and interpreting facts and knowledge on phenomena, terms, and persons past and present for 70 years now, thus contributing to Croatian culture, knowledge, and the general education of our community.

Croatian Time Machine members and Time Machine Ambassador Vlatka Lemić, head of the Archival office at the University of Zagreb, organised a Time Machine Info Day in Zagreb on 15 January at the University of Zagreb. The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography was represented by Dr Nataša Jermen, assistant director for research and inter-institutional cooperation, who spoke about encyclopedias and encyclopedic portals and their role in the preservation of Croatian cultural heritage.

A conference that brought together encyclopedia editors and publishers from both sides of the Atlantic was held at Norway House in Brussels, organised by the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia, the European Parliamentary Research Service, and the Mission of Norway to the European Union. The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography was represented by its director, Bruno Kragić, and Nataša Jermen, assistant director for research and inter-institutional cooperation.

The Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography has successfully passed the first stage of evaluation of the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Regional Cooperation.