lemures

[ lem-yuh-reez; Latin lem-oo-res ]

/ ˈlɛm yəˌriz; Latin ˈlɛm ʊˌrɛs /

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plural noun Roman Religion.

ghosts, especially those of a family’s dead, considered troublesome unless exorcised or appeased, as during the annual festival of Lemuralia.

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Origin of lemures

First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin; see origin at lemur

Words nearby lemures

Lempert operation, lempira, Lemuel, lemur, Lemuralia, lemures, Lemuria, lemuroid, Len, Lena, Lenaea

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lemures in a sentence

I had read of banshees, lemures and leprechauns; they were the ghosts and the fairies of ignorance but they were not like this.
The Blind Spot|Austin Hall
Philosophy, never fit for the people, had entered the best houses, and the image of Epicurus had taken the place of the Lemures.
Imaginary Conversations and Poems|Walter Savage Landor
The ghosts, or specters of the dead that came back to haunt and terrify the living were called lemures.
Romulus, Makers of History|Jacob Abbott
Their hypothetical common ancestor, the Archipithecus, may have descended directly or indirectly from a branch of the Lemures.
The Last Link|Ernst Haeckel

Lemur, the name given to that low family of monkeys, is from the plural Latin word lemures, meaning ghost or spectre.
The Log of the Sun|William Beebe

British Dictionary definitions for lemures

lemures

/ (ˈlɛmjʊˌriːz) /

pl n

Roman myth the spirits of the dead

Word Origin for lemures

Latin: see lemur

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