lemur

IPA/ˈliːmə(r)/
KK[lˈimɚ]IPA/ˈliːmər/

lemur — noun

  • lemursingular
  • lemursplural

1. A lemur is a primate with soft fur, a long tail, and very large eyes. It comes o

1.nounB1
Definition

A lemur is a primate with soft fur, a long tail, and very large eyes. It comes out after dark to find food. Lemurs live only in Madagascar's forests and on the nearby Comoros Islands.

Example

Priya and Ravi saw a big-eyed ring-tailed lemur leap between branches in Madagascar.

collocation: ring-tailed lemur

Dimitri watched the zoo's ring-tailed lemur use its big eyes to hunt at night.

describes physical features for nocturnal life

Common collocations
  • ring-tailed lemur
  • mouse lemur
  • lemur species
  • lemur habitat
  • lemur population
Synonyms
  • prosimian

    a broader scientific term that includes lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers; less specific than 'lemur'

Usage Note

Lemurs are native only to Madagascar and the Comoros Islands. They are prosimians, an older group of primates that evolved before monkeys and apes. Many lemur species are endangered due to forest loss.

Common Mistakes

I saw a lemur at the zoo — it is a type of monkey.
I saw a lemur at the zoo
it belongs to the prosimian group, which is different from monkeys.' — Lemurs and monkeys are both primates, but lemurs evolved earlier and have distinct facial features and a stronger sense of smell.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Lemurs, monkeys, and prosimians are all primates, but each term has a different scope. 'Primate' is the broadest category, covering lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans. 'Prosimian' is a scientific subgroup that includes lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers — primates that evolved earlier than monkeys and apes. Monkeys belong to the anthropoid group, which has more developed brains and social behaviors. In everyday speech, people sometimes call a lemur a 'monkey,' but lemurs have longer snouts, larger eyes, and rely more on scent than on facial expressions. For example, a ring-tailed lemur uses its long striped tail for group signaling, whereas a monkey would use gestures or vocal calls. If you see a big-eyed, long-tailed primate climbing trees in Madagascar, it is almost certainly a lemur, not a monkey.

monkey ↗prosimianprimate

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • ring-tailed lemur
  • mouse lemur
  • lemur habitat

Prepositions

  • of Madagascar

Etymology

LatinEnglish

The name comes from Latin 'lemures,' meaning 'ghosts' or 'spirits.' The 18th-century naturalist Carl Linnaeus gave them this name because lemurs are active at night and have large, reflective eyes that glow in the dark, reminding people of ghost stories. The word entered English in the 1790s.