| n. | 1. | (Math., Logic) A preliminary or auxiliary proposition demonstrated or accepted for immediate use in the demonstration of some other proposition, as in mathematics or logic. |
| 2. | A word that is included in a glossary or list of headwords; a headword. |
| Noun | 1. | lemma - a subsidiary proposition that is assumed to be true in order to prove another proposition |
| 2. | lemma - the lower and stouter of the two glumes immediately enclosing the floret in most Gramineae Synonyms: flowering glume | |
| 3. | lemma - the head of an annotation or gloss |
| (logic) | lemma - A result already proved, which is needed in the proof of some further result. |