Meaning of the word lemma in English

What does lemma mean in English? Explore the meaning, pronunciation, and specific usage of this word with Lingoland.

lemma

US /ˈlem.ə/
UK /ˈlem.ə/

Noun

1.

a proposition, especially in mathematics, that is assumed to be true in order to prove another proposition

Example:
The proof of the theorem relies on a crucial lemma.
We first need to establish this lemma before proceeding with the main proof.
2.

the base or dictionary form of a word, from which all inflected forms are derived

Example:
In linguistics, 'run' is the lemma for 'running', 'ran', and 'runs'.
Text analysis often involves reducing words to their common lemma to group similar terms.