lemma
nounEtymology From the Ancient Greek λέμμα (lémma), from λέπω (lépō, “to peel”).
- Derived terms
- cytolemma, karyolemma, myolemma, neurilemma, neurolemma, oolemma, plasmalemma, sarcolemma
lemma
nounUS, UK /ˈlɛmə/ · /ˈlɪmə/
Etymology Borrowed from Ancient Greek λῆμμᾰ (lêmmă, “premise, assumption”), from the same root as λᾰμβᾰ́νω (lămbắnō, “to take”).
1
Mathematics, Sciences 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."1988 August 30, Malcolm W. Browne, “Intellectual Duel: Brash Challenge, Swift Response”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2023:
2
Mathematics, Sciences Broadly, In phrases A proposition originally used for such a purpose, but having later acquired a greater, independent, importance; a fundamental (often pithy) and widely-used result.
3
Human sciences, Lexicography, Linguistics, Sciences 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.
- Holonym: lexeme (holonymous sense)
2 more examples
- For the second sense, where "word" means "item that should have its own dictionary entry," lexicographers sometimes use the term "lemma," but that has other meanings too, so among linguists the term lexeme is now standard, and I'll use it. For the different forms or shapes that belong to a lexeme we can use the term word-form.2024, Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Truth About English Grammar, Polity Press, →ISBN, page 17:
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:lemma.
4
Human sciences, Linguistics, Psycholinguistics, Psychology, Sciences 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.
- Synonyms
- citation form
- Antonyms
- non-lemma
- Derived terms
- Bézout's lemma, Euclid's lemma, five lemma, Johnson-Lindenstrauss lemma, lemmatize, Neyman-Pearson lemma, pentalemma, pumping lemma, Riemann-Lebesgue lemma, Sperner's lemma, Stein's lemma, Teichmüller-Tukey lemma, Tukey's lemma, Urysohn's lemma, Yao's lemma, Yoneda lemma, Zorn's lemma
- Related terms
- dilemma, lemmatic, lemmatical, lemmatically, Margulis lemma, pentalemma, sublemma, tetralemma, trilemma, basic form, canonical form, citation form, dictionary form, headword, infinitive