Etymologically
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limite

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /li.mit/[1]

Forms

limite f (plural limites)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin līmes (“path bordering a property; boundary, frontier”).[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun has no known etymology; it is tentatively compared with līmen (“threshold”).[3] Littré connected it with līmus (“oblique”).[6] The verb limiter (1311) and the noun limitation (1322) come from the related Latin words.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a Neuchâtel document of 1372 it names what bounds a piece of land or a territory, the line between neighbouring properties.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Rare before the 16th century, the word was mostly masculine, like its Latin source, until the 17th century (1513, Lemaire de Belges, Montaigne's La vaillance a ses limites, lesquels franchis...).[3][2][6] Robert Estienne uses it figuratively in 1539 (limites de son debvoir).[2]

In mathematics the Encyclopédie (1765) defines it as a magnitude that another can approach indefinitely without ever reaching it; from this come the common phrases à la limite and cas limite.[2][3] It became a technical term in mechanics (limite d'élasticité) and in sport (1924, boxing).[3] In apposition it means extreme, ultimate (date limite, vitesse limite), and in colloquial use limite as an adjective means borderline, almost unacceptable.[7][1]

Timeline

  • 1372 – A boundary of land.[2]
  • 1513 – Masculine, in Lemaire de Belges.[2][8]
  • 1539 – Figurative use in Estienne.[2]
  • 1580 – Montaigne: La vaillance a ses limites.[2]
  • 1765 – The mathematical limit, in the Encyclopédie.[2]
  • 1844 – Limite de densité in mechanics.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A line separating two lands or territories; a boundary, border: les limites d'un terrain.[7][1]
  2. The extreme point or end of something in space or time: dans les limites de.[7][2]
  3. (figurative) A point beyond which something cannot go; a limit: connaître ses limites, sans limites.[7][1]
  4. (mathematics) A value approached indefinitely by a variable.[2][7]
  5. À la limite: at a pinch, if need be.[3][7]
  6. (in apposition) Extreme, maximum: date limite, cas limite.[7][3]

Adjective

  1. (colloquial) Borderline, close to being unacceptable.[1]

Word family

  • limitatif

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 344a
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert