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limito

Etymology and origin of the Latin word limito

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Varro
Ultimate origin
Latin (līmes)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈliː.mɪ.toː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈliː.mi.to][1]

Forms

līmitō (present infinitive līmitāre, perfect active līmitāvī, supine līmitātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from līmes “boundary” with the verb suffix -ō.[2][1][3][4] An inscription has ⟨leim-⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Varro, of defining.[2] Köbler dates Varro 116–27 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

In Pliny the Elder it meant to enclose land within boundaries, as vineyards marked off by a road eighteen feet wide, and Festus also uses it.[2][6][7] In Varro it meant to outline, define.[2][7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to bound, limit.[8] It survives in Spanish and Portuguese lindar and French limiter.[1] English limit comes from Old French limite, from its base līmes.[4]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of defining.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of marking out vineyards.[6][5]
  • c. 1400 – English limit is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To enclose within boundaries, limit.[2]
  2. To outline, define.[2]

Word family

  • dēlīmitō
  • illīmitātus
  • līmitātiō
  • collīmitō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b 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. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Limito.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/limito. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·