lemur

From Latin lemurēs (“spirits of the dead”). The name was originally given to the red slender loris (then Lemur tardigradus) in 1754 by Carl Linnaeus. According to Linnaeus, the name was selected because of the nocturnal activity and slow movements of the red slender loris. In 1758, Linnaeus added, among others, the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) to the genus Lemur. All other species, including the red slender loris, were eventually moved to other genera. In time, the word became the colloquial name for all primates endemic to Madagascar.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈliːmə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːmə(ɹ)
• Homophone: Lima (non-rhotic)

lemur (plural lemurs)

1. (colloquial) Any strepsirrhine primate of the infraorder Lemuriformes, superfamily Lemuroidea, native only to Madagascar and some surrounding islands.
   • 2025 July 5, Mike Carter, “Deep in the island ark”, in FT Weekend, Travel, page 6:

     Tucker-Brown explained how lemurs—like much of the “stranded” flora and fauna of Madagascar—are effectively living fossils. Belonging to a primate group called prosimians, lemurs were evolutionarily superseded by monkeys on mainland Africa 35mn years ago and driven to near-extinction.

2. Any of the genus Lemur, represented by the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).
3. (obsolete) A loris (Lemur tardigradus, now Loris tardigradus), predating the 10th edition of Systema Naturæ.

The taxonomy is currently disputed, see Taxonomy of lemurs on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• lemures
• Lemuria

• lemur on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Lemuriformes on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Lemuriformes on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɛmur]

lemur m anim

1. lemur

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• “lemur”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “lemur”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

lemur (weak)

1. second-person singular present indicative of lemja
2. third-person singular present indicative of lemja

Internationalism; compare English lemur, French lémur, German Lemur, ultimately from Latin lemurēs.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.mur/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmur
• Syllabification: le‧mur

lemur m animal

1. lemur (any primate of the infraorder Lemuriformes)
2. (Roman mythology) lemures (spirit or ghost of the dead, considered as malignant)

• lemur in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• lemur in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• lemury in PWN's encyclopedia

Borrowed from French lémure.

lemur m (plural lemuri)

1. lemur

• IPA^(key): /lěmuːr/
• Hyphenation: le‧mur

lèmūr m anim (Cyrillic spelling лѐмӯр)

1. lemur

Learned borrowing from Latin lemures (“spirits”). First attested in 1861.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /lɛˈmʉːr/

lemur c

1. (animal) a lemur [since 1912]^[2]
2. (Roman mythology) a lemures [since 1861]^[1]

   Synonyms: ande, spöke, gast

• maki

• lemur in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

• Lerum

Borrowed from Spanish lémur or English lemur, from Latin lemurēs (“spirits of the dead”).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈlemuɾ/ [ˈlɛː.mʊɾ]
• Rhymes: -emuɾ
• Syllabification: le‧mur

lemur (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜋᜓᜇ᜔)

1. lemur