Definition
We mention again that the definition presented here is different from that of the "semi-inner product" in standard functional analysis textbooks, [3] where a "semi-inner product" satisfies all the properties of inner products (including conjugate symmetry) except that it is not required to be strictly positive.
A semi-inner-product, L-semi-inner product, or a semi-inner product in the sense of Lumer for a linear vector space
over the field
of complex numbers is a function from
to
usually denoted by
, such that for all 
- Nonnegative-definiteness:

- Linearity in the 1st argument, meaning:
- Additivity in the 1st argument:

- Homogeneity in the 1st argument:

- Conjugate homogeneity in the 2nd argument:

- Cauchy–Schwarz inequality:

Difference from inner products
A semi-inner-product is different from inner products in that it is in general not conjugate symmetric, that is,
generally. This is equivalent to saying that [4] 
In other words, semi-inner-products are generally nonlinear about its second variable.
Semi-inner-products for normed spaces
If
is a semi-inner-product for a linear vector space
then
defines a norm on
.
Conversely, if
is a normed vector space with the norm
then there always exists a (not necessarily unique) semi-inner-product on
that is consistent with the norm on
in the sense that [1] 
Examples
The Euclidean space
with the
norm (
)
has the consistent semi-inner-product: 
where 
In general, the space
of
-integrable functions on a measure space
where
with the norm
possesses the consistent semi-inner-product: 

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