Which to use
“lemma” and “lemur” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,896
- “lemma” frequency rank
- #48,861
- “lemur” frequency rank
- 88757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lemma | lemur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A proposition proved or accepted for immediate use in the proof of some other proposition. | Any strepsirrhine primate of the superfamily Lemuroidea, native only to Madagascar and some surrounding islands. |
Where the eye mixes lemma and lemur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lemma vs lemur
A purely visual mix-up. lemma (/ˈlɛmə/) and lemur (/ˈliːmə(ɹ)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lemma is recorded at frequency rank #39,896, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛmə/. lemur is at rank #48,861, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈliːmə(ɹ)/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 88757, this pair ranks #5,949 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lemma vs lemur
Shared letters: elm. Private to "lemma": a. Private to "lemur": ru.
"lemma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "lemur" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lemma" for "lemur" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lemma" vs "lemur" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lemma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lemur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,949 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lemma" and "lemur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leer vs lemur". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #5,949 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.