Etymologically
Log in

limbus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 00:31. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈlɪm.bʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlim.bus][1]

Forms

limbus m (genitive limbī); second declension[1] Varro also has lembus.[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][4] It may be from Proto-Indo-European *lemb- (“to hang down limply”), with Sanskrit लम्बते (lámbate, “hangs down”) and English limp, but the /b/, the specific meaning and its absence from early texts make this doubtful.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro uses it of the zodiac, the band of the twelve signs.[3][2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was an ornamental border or fringe of a robe, as the embroidered border of Dido's cloak in Virgil, a band or girdle, as in Statius, and a band-like marking on a gem.[3][6] It was also the zodiac and the rope bordering a hunting net.[3][7]

In medieval theology the limbus, the border of hell, was where pre-Christian saints and unbaptized infants were held.[8][1] From it came English limbo.[8] Later it gave the anatomical limbus and limbic.[8]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the zodiac.[3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil describes a cloak with an embroidered border.[6][5]
  • c. 1300 – English limbo is recorded.[8]
  • 1879 – English limbic is recorded in anatomy.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An ornamental border, fringe, hem.[3][6]
  2. A band, girdle; a band-like marking.[3]
  3. The zodiac.[3][7]
  4. A rope bordering a hunting net.[3]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Limbo.[1][8]

Word family

  • limbātus
  • limbulārius
  • English limbo
  • English limbic
  • English limp

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com