Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various primates of the infraorder Lemuriformes of Madagascar and adjacent islands, having elongated lower incisors and nails on all digits except the second toe of the hind foot.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The typical genus of Lemuridæ and Lemurinæ.
  • noun A member of the genus Lemur, in the widest sense; anylemurine, lemuroid, or prosimian.
  • noun Some animal like a lemur. See flying-lemur and Galeopithecus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) One of a family (Lemuridæ) of nocturnal mammals allied to the monkeys, but of small size, and having a sharp and foxlike muzzle, and large eyes. They feed upon birds, insects, and fruit, and are mostly natives of Madagascar and the neighboring islands, one genus (Galago) occurring in Africa. The slow lemur or kukang of the East Indies is Nycticebus tardigradus. See galago, indris, and colugo.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any prosimian of the infraorder Lemuriformes, native only to Madagascar and some surrounding islands.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun large-eyed arboreal prosimian having foxy faces and long furry tails

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Lemur, genus name, back-formation from Latin Lemurēs, lemures (from their ghostly appearance and their nocturnal habits).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin lemurēs (pl. only), "spirits of the night" (probably from the animals' nocturnal behaviour/behavior and large, reflective eyes).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word lemur.

Examples

  • Of course, the lemur is perhaps the most well-known:

    Big, previously unknown palm tree discovered! « Skulls in the Stars 2008

  • HANNA: All right, the lemur is a very rare animal.

    CNN Transcript Dec 25, 2009 2009

  • HARRIS: Or maybe I'll get -- it's what I would do with a lemur is the problem.

    CNN Transcript Apr 29, 2006 2006

  • Sometimes in the evening a wild animal called a lemur rushes wildly through the house and out at the front veranda.

    The Golden Chersonese and the way thither Isabella Lucy 2004

  • Madagascar is home to many species of lemur, which is a small aminal that looks like a cross between a monkey and a squirrel.

    Your Disgusting Head Haggis-On-Whey 2004

  • Madagascar is home to many species of lemur, which is a small aminal that looks like a cross between a monkey and a squirrel.

    Your Disgusting Head Haggis-On-Whey 2004

  • Madagascar is home to many species of lemur, which is a small aminal that looks like a cross between a monkey and a squirrel.

    Your Disgusting Head Haggis-On-Whey 2004

  • Sometimes in the evening a wild animal called a lemur rushes wildly through the house and out at the front veranda.

    The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither Isabella Lucy 1883

  • There are also huge bats, an animal of the monkey tribe called the lemur, hedgehogs, and rabbits.

    The Fugitives The Tyrant Queen of Madagascar Francis B. Pearson 1859

  • I have about 20 minutes of battery life left in my Powerbook, and I'm stealing wifi from someone named "lemur" within 100 feet of my predicament, and I'm praying it doesn't get so stiflingly hot that Lucy is forced to wake up and share her Yoko Ono-influenced pop stylings with us.

    ocean to ocean 2005

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Aren't they just the greatest? *sigh*

    Lemurs.

    April 15, 2009

  • I always defer to the lemur allure.

    April 15, 2009

  • You know, besides having one of the best Wordie user names evah, AbraxasZugzwang sure had some great lists.

    I miss AbraxasZugzwang. I miss uselessness.

    Sigh.

    April 15, 2009

  • Unlike some other primates, lemurs do not have prehensile tails (they cannot hang by their tails from trees like monkeys) but they do have long, wet noses.

    – from the Lemurs.us website, "Lemur Basics".

    April 15, 2009

  • This is one of the weirdest descriptions ever: a characteristic that they don't have while "some others" do.

    April 15, 2009

  • Besides those moist noses, they also have good eyesight and flexible hands and feet, according to Weirdnet.

    *So this lemur walks into an optometrist's office and ....*

    April 15, 2009

  • Mmmm, moist lemurs.

    April 15, 2009

  • Lemur lemur lemur.

    April 15, 2009

  • I made it out of clay....

    April 15, 2009

  • And then there's another big-eyed tropical species of lemur, the Lamour dorothia (see here and here).

    April 15, 2009

  • Snort!

    April 16, 2009

  • Hee! Didn't that species invent mathematics, or radar, or something?

    April 16, 2009

  • A common mistake, c_b. But you are actually thinking of the exotic Lamarr Hedonis species, seen here and again here .

    The godmother of spread spectrum technology, without which your mobile phone and WiFi gadgetry would be just expensive, worthless trinkets.

    April 16, 2009

  • *snort*

    April 16, 2009

  • Ah yes! Of course. I do get the two species confused. At least I didn't think it was a potto.

    Ad: "MEET THE KING of the ARCTIC. Polar Bear Expeditions to Churchill, Manitoba. From $4,595." Polar bears. So overrated compared to lemurs.

    April 16, 2009

  • Lemurs, tapirs, and bilbies! Oh my!

    April 17, 2009

  • Also a sort of ghost. See the plural lemures.

    December 20, 2009