lemures

L1E1M3U1R1E1S1
/ˈlɛmjəriːz/

noun

The spirits or ghosts of the dead, considered as malignant.

OriginLatin lemurēs →
Scrabble 9
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounlemures pl (plural only)
  1. Romanpluralplural onlyhuman sciencesThe spirits or ghosts of the dead, considered as malignant.

    The Lars and Lemures moan with midnight plaint.

    1629, John Milton, “On the Morning of Christs Nativity”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC
    1 more example

    So still lay the figure, and so dim was its outline, that any other than Arbaces might have felt a superstitious fear, lest he beheld one of those grim lemures, who, above all other spots, haunted the threshold of the homes they formerly possessed.

    1834, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter VII, in The Last Days of Pompeii. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […]; successor to Henry Colburn, →OCLC, book IV, page 13

Origin

  1. Latinlemurēs
  2. Englishlemures

From Latin lemurēs. See lemur.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

lemures. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lemures

MLA

“lemures.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lemures. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lemures,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lemures.

Source: lemures on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.