Lemma

Lemma is a term used in various fields such as mathematics, linguistics, and logic. It generally refers to a subsidiary or intermediate theorem in an argument or proof. In linguistics, it refers to the canonical form of a set of words.

Mathematics[edit | edit source]

In mathematics, a lemma is a proven statement used for proving another statement or theorem. Lemmas are often used to simplify the proof of more complex theorems by breaking them down into more manageable parts. A famous example is Zorn's Lemma, which is used in the proof of the Axiom of Choice.

Linguistics[edit | edit source]

In linguistics, a lemma is the base form of a word, also known as the dictionary form. For example, the lemma of the word "running" is "run". Lemmas are used in morphology and lexicography to group together all the inflected forms of a word.

Logic[edit | edit source]

In logic, a lemma is a minor result whose sole purpose is to help in proving a larger theorem. Lemmas are often used to make the structure of a proof clearer and more understandable.