lemma

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word lemma. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word lemma, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say lemma in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word lemma you have here. The definition of the word lemma will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition oflemma, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Lemma

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from the same root as λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).

Noun

lemma (plural lemmas or lemmata)

  1. (mathematics) A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition.
    • 1988 August 30, Malcolm W. Browne, “Intellectual Duel: Brash Challenge, Swift Response”, in The New York Times:
      "We finally did it, but we found the proof very, very hard," [Dr. Conway] said. "I remember my wife and I spending one entire afternoon just working on some tiny little lemmas involved in the proof."
    1. (in phrases, by extension) A proposition originally used for such a purpose, but having later acquired a greater, independent, importance; a fundamental (often pithy) and widely-used result.
  2. (linguistics, lexicography) 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.
    Synonym: lexeme (synonymous sense)
    Holonym: lexeme (holonymous sense)
    • 2024, Geoffrey K. Pullum, The Truth About English Grammar, Polity Press, →ISBN, page 17:
      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.
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:lemma.
  3. (psycholinguistics) 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.
    Coordinate term: lexeme
Synonyms
  • (linguistics, lexicography: canonical form of a word): citation form
Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of linguistics, lexicography: canonical form of a word): non-lemma
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

Etymology 2

From the Ancient Greek λέμμα (lémma), from λέπω (lépō, I peel).

Noun

lemma (plural lemmas or lemmata)

  1. (botany) The outer shell of a fruit or similar body.
  2. (botany) One of the specialized bracts around the floret in grasses.
Derived terms
Translations

Further reading

Sister projects

Anagrams

Czech

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key):
  • Hyphenation: le‧m‧ma

Noun

lemma n

  1. (mathematics) lemma
  2. (linguistics) lemma (the canonical form of an inflected word)

Declension

Further reading

  • lemma”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
  • lemma”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

From Latin lemma, from Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).

Pronunciation

Noun

lemma n (plural lemma's or lemmata, diminutive lemmaatje n)

  1. (mathematics) lemma (proved or accepted proposition used in a proof)
  2. (linguistics) lemma (the canonical form of an inflected word, dictionary form)

Derived terms

Finnish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).

Pronunciation

Noun

lemma

  1. (linguistics) lemma
  2. (mathematics) lemma

Declension

Inflection of lemma (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
nominative lemma lemmat
genitive lemman lemmojen
partitive lemmaa lemmoja
illative lemmaan lemmoihin
singular plural
nominative lemma lemmat
accusative nom. lemma lemmat
gen. lemman
genitive lemman lemmojen
lemmain rare
partitive lemmaa lemmoja
inessive lemmassa lemmoissa
elative lemmasta lemmoista
illative lemmaan lemmoihin
adessive lemmalla lemmoilla
ablative lemmalta lemmoilta
allative lemmalle lemmoille
essive lemmana lemmoina
translative lemmaksi lemmoiksi
abessive lemmatta lemmoitta
instructive lemmoin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of lemma (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative lemmani lemmani
accusative nom. lemmani lemmani
gen. lemmani
genitive lemmani lemmojeni
lemmaini rare
partitive lemmaani lemmojani
inessive lemmassani lemmoissani
elative lemmastani lemmoistani
illative lemmaani lemmoihini
adessive lemmallani lemmoillani
ablative lemmaltani lemmoiltani
allative lemmalleni lemmoilleni
essive lemmanani lemmoinani
translative lemmakseni lemmoikseni
abessive lemmattani lemmoittani
instructive
comitative lemmoineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative lemmasi lemmasi
accusative nom. lemmasi lemmasi
gen. lemmasi
genitive lemmasi lemmojesi
lemmaisi rare
partitive lemmaasi lemmojasi
inessive lemmassasi lemmoissasi
elative lemmastasi lemmoistasi
illative lemmaasi lemmoihisi
adessive lemmallasi lemmoillasi
ablative lemmaltasi lemmoiltasi
allative lemmallesi lemmoillesi
essive lemmanasi lemmoinasi
translative lemmaksesi lemmoiksesi
abessive lemmattasi lemmoittasi
instructive
comitative lemmoinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative lemmamme lemmamme
accusative nom. lemmamme lemmamme
gen. lemmamme
genitive lemmamme lemmojemme
lemmaimme rare
partitive lemmaamme lemmojamme
inessive lemmassamme lemmoissamme
elative lemmastamme lemmoistamme
illative lemmaamme lemmoihimme
adessive lemmallamme lemmoillamme
ablative lemmaltamme lemmoiltamme
allative lemmallemme lemmoillemme
essive lemmanamme lemmoinamme
translative lemmaksemme lemmoiksemme
abessive lemmattamme lemmoittamme
instructive
comitative lemmoinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative lemmanne lemmanne
accusative nom. lemmanne lemmanne
gen. lemmanne
genitive lemmanne lemmojenne
lemmainne rare
partitive lemmaanne lemmojanne
inessive lemmassanne lemmoissanne
elative lemmastanne lemmoistanne
illative lemmaanne lemmoihinne
adessive lemmallanne lemmoillanne
ablative lemmaltanne lemmoiltanne
allative lemmallenne lemmoillenne
essive lemmananne lemmoinanne
translative lemmaksenne lemmoiksenne
abessive lemmattanne lemmoittanne
instructive
comitative lemmoinenne

Synonyms

Hungarian

 lemma on Hungarian Wikipedia

Etymology

From English lemma and German Lemma, from Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

lemma (plural lemmák)

  1. (mathematics, linguistics, lexicography) lemma

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative lemma lemmák
accusative lemmát lemmákat
dative lemmának lemmáknak
instrumental lemmával lemmákkal
causal-final lemmáért lemmákért
translative lemmává lemmákká
terminative lemmáig lemmákig
essive-formal lemmaként lemmákként
essive-modal
inessive lemmában lemmákban
superessive lemmán lemmákon
adessive lemmánál lemmáknál
illative lemmába lemmákba
sublative lemmára lemmákra
allative lemmához lemmákhoz
elative lemmából lemmákból
delative lemmáról lemmákról
ablative lemmától lemmáktól
non-attributive
possessive - singular
lemmáé lemmáké
non-attributive
possessive - plural
lemmáéi lemmákéi
Possessive forms of lemma
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. lemmám lemmáim
2nd person sing. lemmád lemmáid
3rd person sing. lemmája lemmái
1st person plural lemmánk lemmáink
2nd person plural lemmátok lemmáitok
3rd person plural lemmájuk lemmáik

References

  1. ^ Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (’A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN

Italian

Etymology

From Latin lemma, from Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).

Pronunciation

Noun

lemma m (plural lemmi)

  1. (mathematics, linguistics, lexicography) lemma
  2. entry (in a dictionary)

Further reading

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology 1

From Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).

Pronunciation

Noun

lēmma n (genitive lēmmatis); third declension

  1. (literally) A subject for consideration or explanation, a theme, matter, subject, contents.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Pliny the Younger to this entry?)
  2. (transferred senses):
    1. the title of an epigram (because it indicates the subject)
    2. the epigram itself
    3. story, tale
    4. the assumption or lemma of a syllogism
      (Can we find and add a quotation of Aulus Gellius to this entry?)
Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

singular plural
nominative lēmma lēmmata
genitive lēmmatis lēmmatum
dative lēmmatī lēmmatibus
accusative lēmma lēmmata
ablative lēmmate lēmmatibus
vocative lēmma lēmmata
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Catalan: lema
  • Dutch: lemma
  • English: lemma
  • French: lemme
  • German: Lemma
  • Italian: lemma
  • Spanish: lema

References

  • lemma”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • lemma in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 898/2.
  • lemma” on page 1,015/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Etymology 2

Probably a scribal error: nim.

Noun

lemma f (genitive lemmae); first declension

  1. medieval spelling of lemnia
Declension

First-declension noun.

References

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).

Pronunciation

Noun

lemma f

  1. (linguistics, lexicography) lemma

Declension

Further reading

  • lemma in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swedish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, premise, assumption), from λαμβάνω (lambánō, I take).

Noun

lemma n

  1. lemma[1] (the canonical form of an inflected word, a headword in a dictionary)
  2. (mathematics) lemma (a proposition)

Declension

Synonyms

References

  1. ^ Nordisk leksikografisk ordbok (1997) →ISBN