lemures

American  

[lem-yuh-reez, lem-oo-res] / ˈlɛm yəˌriz, ˈlɛm ʊˌrɛs /

plural noun

Roman Religion.

1. 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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lemures British  

/ ˈlɛmjʊˌriːz /

plural noun

1. Roman myth the spirits of the dead

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Etymology

Origin of lemures

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

Example Sentences

Morton tells us about Egyptian soul essences — the ka, ba, and akh — and ancient Rome’s demonic lemures and the Icelandic draugar, who were powerful, reanimated corpses.

From Washington Post • Dec. 16, 2015

That was no superhuman voice—no yell of nightly lemures, but the death-cry, if I err not more widely, of some frail mortal like ourselves.

From The Roman Traitor, Vol. 1 by Herbert, Henry William

There is, however, some confusion even among the ancients themselves, as to the respective qualities of the larvæ and lemures.

From The Dance of Death Exhibited in Elegant Engravings on Wood with a Dissertation on the Several Representations of that Subject but More Particularly on Those Ascribed to Macaber and Hans Holbein by Douce, Francis

Lemur, the name given to that low family of monkeys, is from the plural Latin word lemures, meaning ghost or spectre.

From The Log of the Sun A Chronicle of Nature's Year by Beebe, William

Post incubiginam Merlinum Nocturni feci ludicra, Et combibonem me Robbinum Vocent ob jocularia, Me d�mones, me lemures, Me novite tenebrio, Decantant me venefic�; Vale!

From Notes and Queries, Number 82, May 24, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Bell, George