lemming

[ lem-ing ]

/ ˈlɛm ɪŋ /

noun

any of various small, mouselike rodents of the genera Lemmus, Myopus, and Dicrostonyx, of far northern regions, as L. lemmus, of Norway, Sweden, etc., noted for periodic mass migrations that sometimes result in mass drownings.

Nearby words

lemieux, mario, lemma, lemmata, lemmatize, lemme, lemming, lemminkäinen, lemmoblast, lemmocyte, lemnian, lemniscate

Origin of lemming

1600–10; < Norwegian; cognate with Icelandic lǣmingi lemming, lǣmingr loon; akin to Gothic laian to revile, Icelandic lā to blame

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lemming

“You become a lemming in a big scary world,” says Zbitnoff of making the transition.
Katie Might Be Able to Leave Tom—but Divorcing Scientology Won’t Be Easy|Eliza Shapiro|July 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The fabulous amaroq and avignaq of the Greenlanders are unknown, but the terms denote real animals, the wolf and the lemming.
The Central Eskimo|Franz Boas
The Lemming multiplies with great rapidity under favourable conditions.
The History of the European Fauna|R. F. Scharff
A new theory has been broached to explain the migrations of the Norway lemming, a variety of field mouse.
The Galaxy, Volume 23, No. 2, February, 1877|Various

Mebbe you wouldn't mind gettin' me a bottle o' lemming sody outer the bar!
Openings in the Old Trail|Bret Harte
The Lapland lemming resembles the preceding and is remarkable for its extensive migrations.
Natural History in Anecdote|Various

British Dictionary definitions for lemming

lemming

/ (ˈlɛmɪŋ) /

noun

any of various volelike rodents of the genus Lemmus and related genera, of northern and arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America: family Cricetidae. The Scandinavian variety, Lemmus lemmus, migrates periodically when its population reaches a peak

a member of any large group following an unthinking course towards mass destruction

Derived Formslemming-like, adjective

Word Origin for lemming

C17: from Norwegian; related to Latin latrāre to bark

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lemming

lemming

small arctic rodent, c.1600, from Norwegian lemming, from Old Norse lomundr "lemming." Perhaps from Lapp luomek. Figurative sense (in reference to their mass migrations that sometimes end in plunges into the sea) is from 1958.