Lemma (mathematics)

In mathematics, a lemma is a proven proposition which is used as a stepping stone to a larger result rather than an independent statement, in and of itself. A good stepping stone leads to many others, so some of the most powerful results in mathematics are known as lemmas: Zorn's lemma, Bézout's lemma, Gauss lemma, Fatou's lemma, Nakayama lemma, etc. There is no inherent distinction between a lemma and a theorem.

See also

• List of lemmas