lemma

¹ American  

[lem-uh] / ˈlɛm ə /

noun

plural

lemmas, lemmata

1. a subsidiary proposition introduced in proving some other proposition; a helping theorem.

2. an argument, theme, or subject, especially when indicated in a heading.

3. a word or phrase that is glossed; headword.

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lemma ² American  

[lem-uh] / ˈlɛm ə /

noun

Botany.

plural

lemmas

1. a bract in a grass spikelet just below the pistil and stamens.

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lemma ¹ British  

/ ˈlɛmə /

noun

1. the outer of two bracts surrounding each floret in a grass spikelet Compare palea

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lemma ² British  

/ ˈlɛmə /

noun

1. a subsidiary proposition, proved for use in the proof of another proposition

2. linguistics a word considered as its citation form together with all the inflected forms. For example, the lemma go consists of go together with goes, going, went, and gone

3. an argument or theme, esp when used as the subject or title of a composition

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lemma Scientific  

/ lĕm′ə /

plural

lemmas

1. The outer or lower of the two bracts enclosing one of the flowers within a grass spikelet.

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Etymology

Origin of lemma¹

1560–70; < Latin: theme, title, epigram < Greek lêmma something received, premise, akin to lambánein to take, receive, take for granted

Origin of lemma²

1745–55; < Greek lémma shell, husk, akin to lépein to peel

Example Sentences

Showing that they do was the first part of proving the lemma, however.

From Scientific American • Sep. 12, 2023

A false lemma is a false premise, or step in the reasoning process.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

Dr. Tanton also talked about how Sperner’s lemma can be used to prove the hairy ball theorem, famous largely because of its colorful name.

From Scientific American • Sep. 29, 2018

Dr. Tanton chose Sperner’s lemma, which is related to the Brouwer fixed-point theorem that both Francis Su and Holly Krieger talked about on their episodes of the podcast.

From Scientific American • Sep. 29, 2018

Man can understand these high matters only by ceasing to be man, just as a fly can understand a lemma of Newton only by ceasing to be a fly.

From Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches — Volume 2 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

Related Words

• assumption
• axiom
• conclusion
• conjecture
• explanation
• guess
• inference
• interpretation
• premise
• proposition
• rationale
• supposition
• theorem
• thesis