lemma

¹ American  

[lem-uh] / ˈlɛm ə /

noun

lemmas, plural lemmata plural

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.

lemmas plural

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

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lemma ¹ 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 ² British  

/ ˈlɛmə /

noun

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

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lemma Scientific  

/ lĕm′ə /

lemmas plural

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

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• lemmas
  plural
• lemmata
  plural

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

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

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

Mohamed Omar told us how to count symmetries using a clever lemma.

From Scientific American • Feb. 16, 2019

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

If you’d like to learn more about the real favorite theorem of every category theorist, check out Tai-Danae Bradley’s series about the Yoneda lemma on her blog Math3ma, starting with this post.

From Scientific American • May 28, 2018

The proof in this and in all cases depends on a lemma which forms Prop.

From Archimedes Men of Science by Heath, Thomas Little

Related Words

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