lemurn.
/ˈliːmə/, U.S. /ˈlimər/ 1. In Roman mythology: plural. The spirits of the departed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > [noun] > spirit of deceased person
ghosteOE
soulOE
spiritc1384
lemurc1580
shade1616
angel1787
shen1847
dybbuk1877
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. v. f. 26v In these they graue the lyuely Images of such phantasies as they suppose they see walke by night which the Antiquitie cauled Lemures.]
c1580 tr. Bugbears iii. iii, in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1897) 99 68 Harpyes, Gogmagogs, lemures.
1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn xxi, in Poems 10 The Lars, and Lemures moan with midnight plaint.
1657 H. Pinnell tr. Crollius Philos. Reformed 26 To the Earth doe belong Gnoms, Lemurs, Sylphs [etc.]
1834 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last Days of Pompeii III. iv. vi*. 13 Lest he beheld one of those grim lemures, who..haunted the threshold of the homes they formerly possessed.
2. Zoology. A genus of nocturnal mammals of the family Lemuridæ, found chiefly in Madagascar, allied to the monkeys, but having a pointed muzzle like that of a fox; an animal of this genus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Primates > [noun] > member of suborder Prosimii (lemurs, etc.) > member of family Lemuridae > genus Lemur (lemur)
macaco1774
maki1774
mocock1791
lemur1795
magpie-maki1890
1795 C. R. Hopson tr. C. P. Thunberg Trav. (ed. 2) II. 206 This species of Lemur somewhat resembles a cat, with its long tail, diversified with black and white ringlets.
1863 C. Lyell Geol. Evid. Antiq. Man xxiv. 474 His order Primates..embraced not only the apes and lemurs, but the bats also.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi x. 213 A little lemur was once seen to leap about from branch to branch.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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