lemming

Meaning

1. A small arctic and subarctic rodent of the tribes Lemmini, Dicrostonychini and Lagurini.
2. (figuratively) Any member of a group given to conformity or groupthink, especially a group poised to follow a leader off a cliff.

Translations

lemming

Lemming

lemming

lemming

lemming

lemmo

leming

lêmingue

lemming

bergmuis

Lemingue

Lêmingue

lémingue

lemmini

Pronounced as (IPA)

/lɛm.ɪŋ/

Etymology

From Danish and Norwegian lemming, from Old Norse lómundr, læmingi, læmingr (“lemming”), perhaps from Sami luomek. Sense 2 derives from a longstanding myth that they exhibit so much herd mentality that populations jump off cliffs to their deaths together.