limite French · revision 17656

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1372|origins=la līmes}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /li.mit/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''limite''' ''f'' (plural limites)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|līmes|t=path bordering a property; boundary, frontier]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|5, 344a) The Latin noun has no known etymology; it is tentatively compared with [[m|la|līmen|t=threshold]].^(DHLF 1992) Littré connected it with [[m|la|līmus|t=oblique]].^(Littré 1873) The verb [[limiter]] (1311) and the noun [[limitation]] (1322) come from the related Latin words.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==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...'').^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) Robert Estienne uses it figuratively in 1539 (''limites de son debvoir'').^(TLFi)

+

+ 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''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It became a technical term in mechanics (''limite d'élasticité'') and in sport (1924, boxing).^(DHLF 1992) In apposition it means extreme, ultimate (''date limite'', ''vitesse limite''), and in colloquial use ''limite'' as an adjective means borderline, almost unacceptable.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1372 – A boundary of land.^(TLFi)

+ * 1513 – Masculine, in Lemaire de Belges.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1539 – Figurative use in Estienne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – Montaigne: ''La vaillance a ses limites''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1765 – The mathematical limit, in the Encyclopédie.^(TLFi)

+ * 1844 – ''Limite de densité'' in mechanics.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A line separating two lands or territories; a [[m|en|boundary]], [[m|en|border]]: ''les limites d'un terrain''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The extreme point or end of something in space or time: ''dans les limites de''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A point beyond which something cannot go; a [[m|en|limit]]: ''connaître ses limites'', ''sans limites''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A value approached indefinitely by a variable.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''À la limite'': at a pinch, if need be.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(in apposition)'' Extreme, maximum: ''date limite'', ''cas limite''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(colloquial)'' [[m|en|borderline|alt=Borderline]], close to being unacceptable.^(Wiktionary)

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+ ==Word family==

+ * [[limitatif]]

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[limiter]]

+ * [[la|līmes]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}