lemma

lemma — noun

1. the simplest grammatical version of a word chosen as the main heading in a dicti

1.名詞B2
釋義

the simplest grammatical version of a word chosen as the main heading in a dictionary, representing all its other forms such as the past tense or the plural

例句

The dictionary entry for the lemma 'run' covers more than fifty different meanings.

lemma as dictionary headword covering all related forms

In an English dictionary, the lemma 'go' stands for forms like 'goes', 'went', and 'going'.

同義詞
  • headword

    the word placed at the start of a dictionary entry; 'lemma' is more common in academic linguistics

  • citation form

    the grammatical base form used to represent all variants; interchangeable with 'lemma' in morphology

  • entry word

    informal term for the word being defined in a dictionary; less technical than 'lemma'

文法句型

the lemma [word]

lemma of [word]

用法筆記

The lemma is always the uninflected base form of a word. This sense is the standard one in lexicography and corpus linguistics.

常見錯誤

❌The lemma "runs" appears in the dictionary.
✅The lemma "run" appears in the dictionary.
💡The lemma is always the base form, not an inflected form.

2. a statement in mathematics or logic that is proved to be true and then used as a

2.名詞C1
釋義

a statement in mathematics or logic that is proved to be true and then used as a stepping stone in proving a larger or more important theorem

例句

The mathematician proved a lemma about prime numbers before moving on to the main theorem.

lemma as proof step toward a theorem

Vikram used a well-known lemma to check the logic in his geometry assignment.

同義詞
  • proposition

    any statement that can be true or false; a lemma is a specific type of proposition used as a proof step

  • theorem

    a major result that is the goal of a proof; a lemma is usually a smaller helper step toward a theorem

  • axiom

    a statement accepted as true without requiring proof; a lemma must be proved

  • corollary

    a result that follows directly from a proved theorem; a lemma leads toward a theorem rather than following from it

文法句型

lemma + about + noun phrase

lemma + in + noun phrase

prove a lemma

lemma + that-clause

用法筆記

Distinguish from 'theorem' (a major result that the proof aims to establish) and 'axiom' (a starting assumption taken as true without proof). A lemma is typically a helper result that is proved and then reused.

常見錯誤

❌The scientist proved a lemma before collecting data from the experiment.
✅The mathematician proved a lemma before tackling the main theorem.
💡Lemma is a logical or mathematical concept, not used in empirical scientific experiments.

3. the main theme, argument, or subject that a written work explores, sometimes ind

3.名詞C1
釋義

the main theme, argument, or subject that a written work explores, sometimes indicated by a heading or title at the start

例句

The lemma of the essay was stated clearly in the opening paragraph.

lemma as stated theme of a written work

Mira could not follow the article because its lemma was confusing and poorly explained.

同義詞
  • theme

    the central idea of a work; 'lemma' is a more formal term, often appearing as a heading

  • subject

    the topic being discussed; 'lemma' is specific to the opening statement of the topic

文法句型

the lemma of + noun phrase

用法筆記

Archaic or formal register. This sense is common in literary criticism and manuscript studies. Distinguish from sense 1 (DICTIONARY HEADWORD): sense 3 refers to the theme or subject itself, not to a word's base dictionary form.