lema

First coined 1789, from Ancient Greek λήμη (lḗmē, “substance that gathers in the corner of the eye; rheum”).

lema (uncountable)

1. (physiology, rare) The secretion of the tarsal glands of the eye.

• sebum palpebrale

• Elma, mela, mela-, amel, -meal, meal, alme, male-, Male, male, leam, lame, lamé, Leam, Elam, Malé

Learned borrowing from Latin lēmma, from Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈle.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈle.ma]

lema m (plural lemes)

1. (heraldry) motto
2. (linguistics) lemma
3. (mathematics) lemma

• lemari
• lematitzar

• “lema”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

lema

1. romanization of ꦊꦩ

Borrowed from Ancient Greek λήμη (lḗmē).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫeː.ma]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈlɛː.ma]

lēma f (genitive lēmae); first declension

1. rheum that collects in the corner of the eyes

First-declension noun.

• grāmia

• “lema”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• lema in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *lima, from Proto-Austronesian *lima.

lema

1. five

• lema’

From Arabic لَمَعَ (lamaʕa). The original inflection with a final għ is now less common (see above). Otherwise the root was reanalysed as ending in a semivowel. For this case, moreover, there exist two conjugations (one with -a- in all forms and one of the type of beda).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.ma/

lema (imperfect jilma)

1. to glitter, glint, glimmer
   • 1949, Anton Buttigieg, “Fuq Qabar Oħti”, in Fanali bil-Lejl:

     U waqt li nħares fuq ta’ qalbi x-xitla
     tat-tifkiriet tinbet tifkira ġdida,
     b’warda ta’ swied il-qalb fejn tilma demgħa
     minn ħbub għajnejja.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

From Proto-Bantu *-dɪ̀ma.

lema

1. to farm, to cultivate
2. to plough

From Latin lemma, from Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma). Compare Spanish lema.

• Rhymes: -emɐ
• Hyphenation: le‧ma

lema m (plural lemas)

1. motto; slogan
2. (linguistics) lemma
3. (mathematics) lemma

• “lema”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /lěːma/
• Hyphenation: le‧ma

léma f (Cyrillic spelling ле́ма)

1. lemma

From Proto-Bantu *-dɪ̀ma.

lema

1. to farm, to cultivate
2. to plough

Borrowed from Latin lemma, from Ancient Greek λῆμμα (lêmma).

• IPA^(key): /ˈlema/ [ˈle.ma]
• Rhymes: -ema
• Syllabification: le‧ma

lema m (plural lemas)

1. motto
2. slogan (especially a political one)

   Synonym: eslogan

3. theme, subject
4. headword, term, title
5. lemma
6. (heraldry) motto

• “lema”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

From Proto-Oceanic *lalom, from earlier *ralom, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *daləm, from Proto-Austronesian *daləm.

• IPA^(key): /lema/

lema

1. inside

• François, Alexandre. 2021. Teanu dictionary (Solomon Islands). Dictionaria 15. 1-1877. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.5653063. – entry lema.
• François, Alexandre. 2021. Online Teanu–English dictionary, with equivalents in Lovono and Tanema. Electronic files. Paris: CNRS. – entry lema.
• Lackey, W.J.. & Boerger, B.H. (2021) “Reexamining the Phonological History of Oceanic's Temotu subgroup”, in Oceanic Linguistics.

From Proto-Bantu *-dɪ̀ma.

lema

1. to farm, to cultivate
2. to plough

lema

1. to spoil