What does lemming mean?
A lemming is a small, short-legged rodent found in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. True lemmings are especially associated with periodic migrations as they seek food and breeding opportunities. The word's best-known figurative use is derogatory: a lemming is someone who follows a group or leader unquestioningly, often toward danger or ruin. This meaning reflects the animals' image as creatures marching collectively, but the popular story that lemmings deliberately throw themselves from cliffs is false; the famous scene was staged for a 1958 film. Although the word can accurately describe unusually unquestioning conduct, applying it to a person is normally insulting rather than neutral. As a result, lemming is useful both for zoological description and for discussing blind conformity, herd behavior, and the misleading power of popular myths.
nounA small, short-legged rodent of Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, noted for periodic mass migrations. By extension, a person who follows a group or leader unquestioningly, especially toward danger or ruin.
- Any of various small rodents of Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, especially true lemmings of the genus Lemmus, noted for periodic migrations.
- A person who follows a group or leader unquestioningly, especially into danger, disaster, or ruin; a derogatory figurative use.
"The lemming population flourished as summer vegetation provided abundant food across the tundra."
"Researchers tracked a lemming population as it dispersed across the newly thawed tundra."
"He refused to question the plan, becoming a lemming in the organization's doomed scheme."
The plural is regular and may refer to several animals or to multiple people behaving in an unquestioning way.
"The lemmings crossed the open ground in a widely scattered group."
The famous cliff-jumping lemming scene was staged for a 1958 documentary; real lemmings do not deliberately commit mass suicide.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lemming come from?
The English noun was borrowed into English in the 17th century from Norwegian lemming, a Scandinavian word inherited from Proto-Germanic. Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian retain closely corresponding forms, while Icelandic has lemingr. The figurative sense for a person who thoughtlessly follows others developed from the animals' collective migrations and was later reinforced by the false mass-suicide image popularized in the twentieth century.
How lemming is actually used
The zoological sense is neutral, whereas the figurative sense is strongly derogatory. It is often associated with the popular myth of lemmings committing mass suicide, although no deliberate suicide occurs.