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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

lemma.

A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈlɛmə/General-American, UK/ˈlɪmə/pin-pen-merger
  1. A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition.

  2. A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition. A proposition originally used for such a purpose, but having later acquired a greater, independent, importance; a fundamental (often pithy) and widely-used result.

    broadly
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Ancient Greek λῆμμᾰ (lêmmă, “premise, assumption”), from the same root as λᾰμβᾰ́νω (lămbắnō, “to take”).

noun/ˈlɛmə/General-American, UK/ˈlɪmə/pin-pen-merger
  1. The outer shell of a fruit or similar body.

  2. One of the specialized bracts around the floret in grasses.

Where this word comes from

From the Ancient Greek λέμμα (lémma), from λέπω (lépō, “to peel”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.