lemma

Plural: lemmas, lemmata

Noun

• A subsidiary proposition proved as an aid to a main theorem.
• a subsidiary proposition that is assumed to be true in order to prove another proposition
• the lower and stouter of the two glumes immediately enclosing the floret in most Gramineae
• the heading that indicates the subject of an annotation or a literary composition or a dictionary entry
• A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition.
• A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition.
• A proposition originally used for such a purpose, but having later acquired a greater, independent, importance; a fundamental (often pithy) and widely-used result.
• The canonical form of an inflected word; i.e., the form usually found as the headword in a dictionary, such as the nominative singular of a noun, the bare infinitive of a verb, etc.
• The theoretical abstract conceptual form of a word, representing a specific meaning, before the creation of a specific phonological form as the sounds of a lexeme, which may find representation in a specific written form as a dictionary or lexicographic word.
• The outer shell of a fruit or similar body.
• One of the specialized bracts around the floret in grasses.

Examples

• His strategy for scoring ’LEMMA’ was a small step towards proving his mastery of the board.

Synonyms

flowering glume, citation form, lexeme

Antonyms

non-lemma

Related Words

Margulis lemma, basic form, canonical form, citation form, dictionary form, dilemma, headword, infinitive, lemmatic, lemmatical, lemmatically, pentalemma, sublemma, tetralemma, trilemma