lemma
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lemma¹
- /ˈlɛmə/ US, UK
- /ˈlɪmə/ pin pen merger
Rhymes with -ɛmə
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Ancient Greek λῆμμᾰ (lêmmă, “premise, assumption”), from the same root as λᾰμβᾰ́νω (lămbắnō, “to take”).
noun lemmas · lemmata
- A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition. "We finally did it, but we found the proof very, very hard," he [Dr. John Conway] said. "I remember my wife and I spending one entire afternoon just working on some tiny little lemmas involved in the proof."
- A proposition originally used for such a purpose, but having later acquired a greater, independent, importance; a fundamental (often pithy) and widely-used result.
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The canonical form of an inflected word; i.e., the form usually found as the headword in a dictionary, such as the nominative singular of a noun, the bare infinitive of a verb, etc.
Cat is a lemma, but cats is not.
Similar: lexeme
- The theoretical abstract conceptual form of a word, representing a specific meaning, before the creation of a specific phonological form as the sounds of a lexeme, which may find representation in a specific written form as a dictionary or lexicographic word.
Similar: citation form · Opposite: non-lemma
lemma²
- /ˈlɛmə/ US, UK
- /ˈlɪmə/ pin pen merger
Rhymes with -ɛmə
Where it comes from
From the Ancient Greek λέμμα (lémma), from λέπω (lépō, “to peel”).
noun lemmas · lemmata
- The outer shell of a fruit or similar body.
- One of the specialized bracts around the floret in grasses.
Lemma³
proper noun
- A female given name.
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: citation form · Opposite: non-lemma
Translations
Every language
noun mathematics: proposition used mainly in the proof of some other proposition
| Español | lema |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 보조정리 bojojeongni |
| 日本語 | 補題 hodai |
| 中文 | 引理 yǐnlǐ |
| हिन्दी | प्रमेयिका prameyikā |
| Português | lema |
| Français | lemme |
| Deutsch | Lemma, Hilfssatz |
| Italiano | lemma |
| Ελληνικά | λήμμα límma |
| Română | lemă |
| Русский | ле́мма lémma |
| العربية | تَمْهِيدِيَّة tamhīdiyya |
| עברית | למה léma, טענת עזר te'anát ézer |
noun linguistics: canonical form of a term
| Español | lema |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 올림말 ollimmal, 표제어 pyojeeo |
| 日本語 | レンマ renma |
| 中文 | 詞目 /词目 címù, 字詞 /字词 zìcí, 詞條 /词条 cítiáo, 詞元 /词元 cíyuán |
| Português | lema |
| Français | lemme, entrée, terme vedette, mot vedette |
| Deutsch | Lemma, Stichwort |
| Italiano | lemma |
| Ελληνικά | λήμμα límma |
| Română | lemă |
| Русский | ле́мма lémma |
| Tiếng Việt | mục từ |
| العربية | سُدَّة sudda, لِيمَّا līmmā |
noun botany: one of the specialized bracts around the floret in grasses
| 한국어 | 겉겨 geotgyeo |
|---|
Talk about this word "lemma." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lemma. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lemma. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lemma "lemma." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lemma.Cite this
@misc{lemma_2026,
title = {lemma},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lemma},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
