lemma

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a subsidiary proposition that is assumed to be true in order to prove another proposition
  2. noun the lower and stouter of the two glumes immediately enclosing the floret in most Gramineae
  3. noun the heading that indicates the subject of an annotation or a literary composition or a dictionary entry

Etymology

From Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma, “premise, assumption”), from the same root as λαμβάνω (lambánō, “to take”).

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