lemming
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lemming
- /lɛm.ɪŋ/ UK
Rhymes with -ɛmɪŋ
Where it comes from
From Danish and Norwegian lemming, from Old Norse lómundr, læmingi, læmingr (“lemming”), perhaps from Sami luomek. Sense 2 derives from a longstanding myth that they exhibit so much herd mentality that populations jump off cliffs to their deaths together.
noun lemmings
- A small arctic and subarctic rodent of the tribes Lemmini, Dicrostonychini and Lagurini. The well-known lemmings, in severe winters, at long intervals, move down from the mountains of Scandinavia in immense numbers, crossing lakes and rivers, eating their way through haystacks, and surmounting every obstacle till they reach the sea, whence very few return.
- Any member of a group given to conformity or groupthink, especially a group poised to follow a leader off a cliff. Lemmings are strongly cohesive, but could be, in organisational terms, highly destructive for the business.
Similar: sable mouse
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: sable mouse
Translations
Every language
noun rodent
| Español | lemming |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 레밍 reming |
| 日本語 | レミング remingu, 旅鼠 tabinezumi |
| 中文 | 旅鼠 lǚshǔ |
| Português | lêmingue, lémingue |
| Français | lemming |
| Deutsch | Lemming |
| Italiano | lemming, lemmo |
| Română | leming |
| Русский | ле́мминг lémming, пестру́шка pestrúška |
| עברית | לֵמוּס lémus |
noun member of a group given to conformity or groupthink
| Français | mouton de Panurge |
|---|
Talk about this word "lemming." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lemming. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lemming. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lemming "lemming." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lemming.Cite this
@misc{lemming_2026,
title = {lemming},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lemming},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
