lemma

/ˈlɛmə/
noun
  1. The base or dictionary form of a word, used as the main entry in a dictionary or glossary.
    • The linguist studied how the lemma 'go' changes in different tenses.
    • The lemma 'run' includes all its inflected forms like 'ran' and 'running'.
    • In the dictionary, each lemma is listed in bold at the top of the entry.
  2. A proven statement or proposition used as a stepping stone to prove a larger theorem, especially in mathematics or logic.
    • Each lemma in the paper built upon the previous one.
    • We used Zorn's Lemma to complete the proof.
    • The mathematician proved a lemma before tackling the main theorem.
What does "lemma" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean