(Zool.) either of two nocturnal lemurlike mammals inhabiting the East Indies (Cynocephalus variegatus) or the Phillipines (Cynocephalus volans) having broad folds of skin between the fore and hind limbs on both sides of the body allowing them to make long gliding leaps; they have been classed in the separate order
n. [ L., a ghost, specter. So called on account of its habit of going abroad by night. ] (Zool.) One of a family (
‖n. pl. [ L. See Lemur. ] Spirits or ghosts of the departed; specters. [ 1913 Webster ]
The Lars and Lemures moan with midnight plaint. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ So named from the supposition that it was the original home of the lemurs. ] A hypothetical land, or continent, supposed by some to have existed formerly in the Indian Ocean, of which Madagascar is a remnant. Herschel. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. & n. (Zool.) Same as Lemuroid. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. [ Lemur + -oid. ] (Zool.) Like or pertaining to the lemurs or the
‖n. pl. [ NL. See Lemur, and -oid. ] (Zool.) A suborder of primates, including the lemurs, the aye-aye, and allied species.