Zorn's lemma

American  

[zawrnz] / zɔrnz /

noun

Mathematics.

1. a theorem of set theory that if every totally ordered subset of a nonempty partially ordered set has an upper bound, then there is an element in the set such that the set contains no element greater than the specified given element.

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Etymology

Origin of Zorn's lemma

First recorded in 1945–50; named after Max August Zorn (1906–93), German mathematician