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Etymology and origin of the Old English word lim

lim1 limb

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
890–897 Pastoral Care
Inherited from
Proto-West Germanic *limu
Ultimate origin
Proto-West Germanic *limu

Pronunciation

Forms

lim n (nominative plural limu) (strong a-stem)[1]

Etymology

The word for a limb is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *limu, which Wiktionary relates to Proto-West Germanic *liþu, the source of liþ (“joint, limb”).[1] Its nearest relatives are Old Norse limr (“limb”), lim (“twig, foliage”) and limi (“broom”).[2][3][4] Kroonen suggests that the Norse u-stem split off from an older mn-stem, and compares Lithuanian liemuõ (“trunk, body”) from a root *lei-.[2] Holthausen adds Latin līmus (“askew”) and līmes (“cross-path, boundary”);[4][5] Köbler places the Germanic word under the root Proto-Indo-European *el- (“to bend”).[4][5] Orel connects it with Proto-Germanic *linaz.[3]

Beside the plural ⟨limu⟩ the texts have ⟨leomu⟩ and ⟨liomu⟩, and the Northumbrian genitive plural ⟨liomana⟩.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is the Pastoral Care in the Hatton manuscript (890×897), on the tetter that spreads over the body and ðæt lim geunwlitegað “disfigures the limb”.[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The word names any member or organ of the body, a limb as distinct from head and trunk, and the branch of a tree: in Beowulf God adorns the earth leomum ond lēafum “with branches and leaves”.[10][11][12] In the laws of Æthelberht gecyndelic lim is the genitals.[13] The Pastoral Care and the homilists call Christians the limbs of Christ, the head of the Church, and the wicked the limbs of the devil.[11] In the glosses it renders Latin “membrum”, and also the rhetorical “colon”, a member of a sentence.[14][11]

The word lived on as Middle English lim, now English limb; the ⟨-b⟩ appeared only in the late sixteenth century.[15][16]

Timeline

  • 890×897 – ðæt lim geunwlitegað in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[8][9]
  • s. x in. or xi¹ – leomu “limbs” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).[17][9]
  • s. x/xi – leomum “branches” in the Beowulf manuscript.[18][12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. a limb, member or organ of the body.[10][14]
  2. (figurative) a member of a body of people, of the Church as the body of Christ.[11]
  3. a branch of a tree.[10][12]
  4. (glosses) a member of a sentence, “colon”.[11]

Word family

  • limlǣw
  • limwēriġ

Descendants

  • Middle English lim (→ English limb; Scots limb)[1]

lim2 glue, lime

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 700 Épinal Glossary
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *līmaz
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *līmaz
Etymology tree of lim2
inherited borrowed derived
Old English līm
English lime
From the same root · lim2
English birdlime ← līm
English limelight ← lime
English limestone ← lime

Pronunciation

Forms

līm m (strong a-stem; genitive singular līmes, nominative plural līmas)[1]

Etymology

The word for glue and lime is inherited from Proto-Germanic *līmaz (“glue, lime”).[1] It has cognates in Old Saxon līm, Old High German līm (“clay, lime”) and Old Norse lím (“lime”).[2][19][4]

Kroonen explains it as an mn-stem made to the root Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”), and Wiktionary names Latin līmus (“mud”) as a further derivative of that root.[2][1] Orel and Holthausen relate it to lām (“loam”).[19][4] Köbler, after Pokorny, puts it under a root Proto-Indo-European *lei- (“slimy, sticky”), and Wiktionary also reports a derivation from *(s)ley-, which would make it a relative of slīm (“slime”).[20][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded in the oldest English glosses: the Épinal Glossary, written at the end of the seventh century or about 700, glosses Latin “bitumen” with lim and “galmilla” with liim molegn.[21][9] The Corpus Glossary (s. ix¹) has Bitumen liim.[22][9]

Semantic evolution

The word covers whatever makes things stick: bird-lime, glue, cement and mortar, a paste, and lime itself, and renders Latin “bitumen”, “caementum” and “gluten”.[10][23][20] In Genesis A the ark is sealed with eorþan līm, the bitumen of the Latin.[10] In charter bounds it is lime.[24]

The word lived on as Middle English lim, now English lime, above all for the lime made by burning limestone.[15][16]

Timeline

  • s. vii ex. – bitumen lim in the Épinal Glossary.[21][9]
  • s. ix¹ – Bitumen liim in the Corpus Glossary.[22][9]
  • s. x² – eorþan līm for the pitch of the ark in Genesis A (Junius 11).[25][10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. glue, birdlime, paste.[10][23]
  2. mortar, cement; lime.[10][20]
  3. bitumen.[10]

Word family

  • ǣġlīm
  • stānlīm

Descendants

  • Middle English lim (→ English lime)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 338
  3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 246
  4. ^ a b c d e Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 202
  5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. limu
  6. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 3.22
  7. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 3.23
  8. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 641
  11. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 618
  12. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. lim
  13. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 135
  14. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lim
  15. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  16. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  17. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 531
  18. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 344
  19. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 248
  20. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. līm
  21. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 610
  22. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 76
  23. ^ a b Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 130
  24. ^ LangScape: The Language of Landscape: Reading the Anglo-Saxon Countryside, King's College London, langscape.org.uk
  25. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 513

Related etymologies

  • witan · also from Proto-Germanic
  • ofer · also from Proto-Germanic
  • of · also from Proto-Germanic
  • boc · also from Proto-Germanic
  • full · also from Proto-Germanic
  • wiþ · also from Proto-Germanic
  • þurh · also from Proto-Germanic
  • -tig · also from Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry

“Lim.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ang/lim. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·