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limes

Etymology and origin of the Latin word limes

History Permalink
Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈliː.mɛs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.mes][1]

Forms

līmes m (genitive līmitis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is probably from līmus “sideways, oblique”, with the suffix -es “going”, as a cross-path.[2][1] It is related to līmen “threshold”.[1][3] De Vaan finds none of the outside cognates proposed for līmus convincing.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus.[5] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a strip of uncultivated ground marking a division of land, a balk between fields, the boundary of a plot, and the plot enclosed.[2][6] From that it meant a lane, path, track or road, as the cross-roads by which Livy's Hannibal reached the Via Latina, a course or route, and the trail left by something moving, especially a shooting star.[2] Döderlein says fīnis is a boundary as a line, while terminus and līmes are the marks of it.[7]

In Medieval Latin it was a boundary marker, and in Niermeyer a march, a margravate.[8][9] Through Old French limite it is the source of English limit, recorded about 1400.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of paths between fields.[10][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of cross-roads.[2][5]
  • c. 1400 – English limit is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A balk, strip of land dividing fields.[2]
  2. A boundary; a plot of land.[2]
  3. A lane, path, road.[2]
  4. A course, route.[2]
  5. A track, trail.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A march, margravate.[9]

Word family

  • līmitālis
  • līmitāneus
  • līmitāris
  • līmitō
  • līmitrophus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry

“Limes.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/limes. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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