GeezerVison

See also: Limb

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lɪm/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪm
Homophones: limn, Lymm

Etymology 1

From Middle English lyme, lim, from Old English lim (“limb, branch”), from Proto-West Germanic *limu, from Proto-Germanic *limuz (“branch, limb”). Cognate with Old Norse limr (“limb”).

The spelling with the silent unetymological -b first arose in the late 1500s. Compare crumb.

Noun

limb (plural limbs)

A major appendage of human or animal, used for locomotion (such as an arm, leg or wing).
- c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
  UUhoſe hands are made to gripe a warlike Lance—
  Their ſhoulders broad, for complet armour fit,
  Their lims more large and of a bigger ſize
  Than all the brats yſprong from Typhons loins:
- 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy), pages 377–378:
  Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
A branch of a tree.
Synonym: bough
(archery) The part of the bow, from the handle to the tip.
An elementary piece of the mechanism of a lock.
A thing or person regarded as a part or member of, or attachment to, something else.
- 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
  That little limb of the devil has cheated the gallows.
Ellipsis of limb of Satan (“a wicked or mischievous child”).

Derived terms

Translations

major appendage of human or animal

Afrikaans: ledemaat (af)
Albanian: gjymtyrë (sq) m
Arabic: طَرَف (ar) m (ṭaraf), عُضْو (ar) m (ʕuḍw)
Egyptian Arabic: طرف m (ṭaraf), عضو m (ʕoḍu)

Tunisian Arabic: طرَف (ṭraf)
Armenian: անդամ (hy) (andam)
Aromanian: mãdular n
Azerbaijani: üzv (az), ətraf (az)
Bashkir: ағза (ağza)
Belarusian: канцаві́на f (kancavína)
Bengali: অঙ্গ (bn) (oṅgo)
Breton: ezel (br) m
Bulgarian: кра́йник m (krájnik)
Burmese: အင်္ဂါ (my) (angga)
Catalan: membre (ca)
Chamicuro: ilapa
Chinese:
Mandarin: 肢 (zh) (zhī), 手腳 / 手脚 (zh) (shǒujiǎo), 四肢 (zh) (sìzhī)
Czech: končetina (cs) f, úd (cs) m
Danish: lem (da) n
Dhivehi: އަނގުން (aⁿgun̊)
Dutch: lid (nl) n, lidmaat (nl) m or n, ledemaat (nl) m or n
Esperanto: membro (eo)
Estonian: jäse
Finnish: raaja (fi), jäsen (fi)
French: membre (fr) m, extrémité (fr) f
Galician: extremidade (gl) f, membro (gl) m
Georgian: კიდური (ḳiduri), ასო (ka) (aso)
German: Glied (de) n, Gliedmaße (de) f, Extremitäten (de) f pl
Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 m (liþus)
Greek: μέλος (el) n (mélos)
Ancient Greek: κῶλον n (kôlon), μέλος n (mélos)
Hebrew: גַּף (he) (gaf)
Hindi: अंग (hi) m (aṅg)
Hungarian: végtag (hu)
Icelandic: útlimur m, limur (is) m
Indonesian: anggota (id)
Irish: géag f
Italian: membra (it) f, arto (it) m, tentacolo (it) m
Japanese: 肢 (ja) (し, shi), 手足 (ja) (てあし, teashi)
Kazakh: аяқ-қол (ayaq-qol)
Khmer: អង្គ (km) (ʔɑŋ)
Korean: 팔 (ko) (pal), 팔다리 (paldari), 사지 (ko) (saji), 지 (ko) (ji)
Kyrgyz: кол-аяк (kol-ayak)
Lao: ອົງ (ʼong)
Latin: membrum m, artus m, articulus m
Latvian: loceklis (lv) m
Lithuanian: galūnė f
Macedonian: екстремите́т m (ekstremitét), член m (člen), крак (mk) m (krak)
Mongolian: үе (mn) (üje), мөч (mn) (möč)
Navajo: atsʼáozʼaʼ
Norwegian:
Bokmål: lem (no) m
Ojibwe: wadikwan
Old Church Slavonic: оудъ (udŭ)
Old English: liþ m, lim n
Persian: اندام (fa) (andâm)
Polish: kończyna (pl) f, odnoga (pl) f
Portuguese: membro (pt) m
Punjabi: ਅੰਗ (pa) (aṅg)
Romanian: mădular (ro) n, ciolan (ro) n, membru (ro) n
Russian: коне́чность (ru) f (konéčnostʹ), член (ru) m (člen)
Sanskrit: अङ्ग (sa) m (aṅga)
Scottish Gaelic: geug (gd) f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: уд m

Latin: ud (sh) m
Slovak: končatina (sk) f
Slovene: okončina f
Spanish: miembro (es) m, extremidad (es) f
Swedish: lem (sv) c
Tagalog: galamay
Tajik: андом (andom)
Tatar: әгъза (tt) (äğza)
Thai: แขนขา (th) (kɛ̌ɛn kǎa), องค์ (th) (ong)
Tocharian B: āmpär
Turkish: uzuv (tr)
Turkmen: çlen, agza (tk)
Ukrainian: кінці́вка (uk) f (kincívka)
Urdu: انگ m (ang)
Uzbek: aʼzo (uz), qoʻl-oyoqlar pl
Vietnamese: chi (vi) (scientific); no equivalent term in Vietnamese, but see chân tay (vi), tay chân (vi), chân (vi), tay (vi)
Yiddish: אבֿר m (eyver)

branch of a tree

Arabic:
Egyptian Arabic: فرع m (farʕ)
Bulgarian: клон (bg) m (klon), вейка (bg) f (vejka)
Czech: větev (cs) f
Finnish: haara (fi), puunhaara
French: branche (fr)
Galician: galla f, póla (gl) f, nembro m
German: Ast (de) m
Gothic: 𐌰𐍃𐍄𐍃 m (asts)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: κλάδος m (kládos)
Hebrew: עָנָף (he)
Icelandic: grein (is) f
Ido: brancho (io)
Irish: géag f
Latin: rāmus m, termes m
Māori: kauwhanga
Navajo: atsʼáozʼaʼ, bigaan
Portuguese: galho (pt) m
Russian: сук (ru) m (suk), сучо́к (ru) m (sučók), ветвь (ru) f (vetvʹ), ве́тка (ru) f (vétka)
Scottish Gaelic: geug (gd) f
Spanish: rama (es) f
Swedish: gren (sv) c
Tocharian B: karāk
Vietnamese: cành (vi)

part of bow

Bulgarian: рамо (bg) n (ramo)
French: branche (fr)
Portuguese: braço (pt) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Estonian: ^{(please verify)} jäse
German: ^{(please verify)} Glied (de) n
Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} tag (hu), ^{(please verify)} íz (hu)
Italian: ^{(please verify)} arto (it) m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} уд m

Latin: ^{(please verify)} ud (sh) m

Verb

limb (third-person singular simple present limbs, present participle limbing, simple past and past participle limbed)

(transitive) To remove the limbs from (an animal or tree).
They limbed the felled trees before cutting them into logs.
(transitive) To supply with limbs.
- 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
  Innumerous living creatures , perfect forms ,
  Limb'd and full grown: out of the ground uprose
- 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:
  Man was not made so large limbed and robust but that he must seek to narrow his world and wall in a space such as fitted him.
(transitive) To thoroughly defeat an opponent in fisticuffs
Brian limbed Roger over at the Beahive last night.

Synonyms

delimb

Translations

to remove limbs

Bulgarian: разчленявам (bg) impf (razčlenjavam), разчленя pf (razčlenja)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 支解 (zh) (zhījiě)
Finnish: karsia (fi) (from a tree), rankoa (from a tree)
French: démembrer (fr)
German: zergliedern (de)
Ingrian: karsia (from a tree)
Japanese: 切り放す (ja) (きりはなす, kirihanasu)
Macedonian: обесчле́нува (obesčlénuva)
Polish: usunąć gałęzie (pl), ścinać gałęzie (pl), rozczłonkowywać (pl)
Portuguese: desmembrar (pt) (animals), desgalhar (pt) (trees)
Russian: расчленя́ть (ru) impf (rasčlenjátʹ), расчлени́ть (ru) pf (rasčlenítʹ)
Swedish: kvista (sv)

Etymology 2

From Latin limbus (“border”).

Noun

limb (plural limbs)

(astronomy) The apparent visual edge of a celestial body.
the solar limb
- 1870, United States Naval Observatory, Reports on Observations of the Total Eclipse of the Sun, August, 7, 1869, page 174:
  At 4h 57m 9s by my chronometer, (see Schedule B,) I observed with my telescope a small black speck on the preceding limb of the sun's disk, at the precise point to which I had been for some minutes directing my attention.
- 2015, Ludmilla Kolokolova, James Hough, Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd, Polarimetry of Stars and Planetary Systems, page 449:
  Chandrasekhar (1946a, b) predicted that the limb of a star will be polarized, because photons scattered at the limb and toward the observer experience a scattering angle of Θ ≈ 90°.
(on a measuring instrument) The graduated edge of a circle or arc.
(botany) The border or upper spreading part of a monopetalous corolla, or of a petal or sepal; blade.
- 1945, “A new form of the moonvine Calonyction aculeatum with divided corolla limb, and length-of-day behavior and flowering of the common form”, in Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, volume 35, number 2:
  The corolla limb of the moonvine Calonyction aculeatum is normally undivided.