lemur

From Latin lemurēs pl (“spirits of the dead”). The name was originally given to the 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 slender loris. In 1758, Linnaeus added—among others—the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) to the genus Lemur. All other species, including the 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)/
• Rhymes: -iːmə(r)
• Homophone: Lima (in non-rhotic accents)

lemur (plural lemurs)

1. (colloquial) Any strepsirrhine primate of the infraorder Lemuriformes, superfamily Lemuroidea, native only to Madagascar and some surrounding islands.
2. Any of the genus Lemur, represented by the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).
   • Linnaeus, C. (1758) Systema Naturæ‎, volume 1, 10 edition, Stockholm, Sweden: Laurentius Salvius, pages 29–30
3. (obsolete) A loris (Lemur tardigradus, now Loris tardigradus), predating the 10th edition of Systema Naturæ.
   • 1754, Linnaeus, C., Museum Adolphi Friderici Regis‎, Stockholm, Sweden: Typographia Regia, page 3–4:

     "Lemures dixi hos, quod noctu imprimis obambulant, hominibus quodanmodo similes, & lento passu vagantur."

     [I call them lemurs, because they go around mainly by night, in a certain way similar to humans, and roam with a slow pace.]

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

• Lemuria

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

lemur m

1. lemur

• lemuří

• lemur in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• lemur in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

lemur (weak)

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

lemur m anim

1. lemur (primate)

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

lèmūr m (Cyrillic spelling лѐмӯр)

1. lemur

lemur c

1. a lemur