lemur
Plural: lemurs
Noun
- A primate endemic to Madagascar, known for its large eyes.
- large-eyed arboreal prosimian having foxy faces and long furry tails
- Any strepsirrhine primate of the superfamily Lemuroidea, native only to Madagascar and some surrounding islands.
- Any of the genus Lemur, represented by the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).
- A loris (Lemur tardigradus, now Loris tardigradus), predating the 10th edition of Systema Naturæ.
Examples
- He managed to sneak in ’LEMUR’ for a surprisingly high score due to a double letter bonus.
Origin / Etymology
From Latin lemurēs (“spirits of the dead”). The name was originally given to the red slender loris (then Lemur tardigradus) in 1754 by Carl Linnaeus. According to Linnaeus, the name was selected because of the nocturnal activity and slow movements of the red slender loris. In 1758, Linnaeus added, among others, the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) to the genus Lemur. All other species, including the red slender loris, were eventually moved to other genera. In time, the word became the colloquial name for all primates endemic to Madagascar.
Scrabble Score: 7
lemur: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordlemur: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
lemur: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 10
lemur: valid Words With Friends Word