lemming
/lɛm.ɪŋ/ noun
Forms lemmings
- noun A small arctic and subarctic rodent of the tribes Lemmini, Dicrostonychini and Lagurini.
- noun (figuratively) Any member of a group given to conformity or groupthink, especially a group poised to follow a leader off a cliff.
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of several species of small arctic rodents of the genera Myodes and Cuniculus, resembling the meadow mice in form. They are found in both hemispheres.
Etymology [Nor. lemming, lemende; cf. Sw. lemel, Lapp. lummik.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lemming”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details