a subsidiary proposition, proved for use in the proof of another proposition
2. linguistics
a word considered as its citation form together with all the inflected forms. For example, the lemma go consists of go together with goes, going, went, and gone
3.
an argument or theme, esp when used as the subject or title of a composition
Word origin
C16 (meaning: proposition), C17 (meaning: title, theme): via Latin from Greek: premise,from lambanein to take (for granted)
lemma in British English2
(ˈlɛmə)
nounWord forms: plural-mas or -mata (-mətə)
the outer of two bracts surrounding each floret in a grass spikelet