Etymograph

English

delimitation

Delimitation comes from French délimiter ‘to delimit’, from Latin līmes ‘a limit set between two estates or fields,…’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- ‘to bow, to bend’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Heh₃l-1‘to bow, to bend’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*līmos1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmus2‘askew’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmes3‘a limit set between two estates or fields, border, boundary’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElimitō3‘to limit, delimit, bound’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēlīmitō4as dēlīmitāre‘to delimit, mark out the boundaries’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentdélimiter5‘to delimit’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentdélimitation6
  9. Englishtodaydelimitation6

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin limus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin limes
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin delimito
  4. 4 Wiktionary, French délimiter
  5. 5 Wiktionary, French délimitation
  6. 6 Wiktionary, English delimitation

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Heh₃l-Wiktionary, Latin limus‘to bow, to bend’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*līmosWiktionary, Latin limusuncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmusWiktionary, Latin limes‘askew’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmesWiktionary, Latin delimito‘a limit set between two estates or fields, border, boundary’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElimitōWiktionary, Latin delimito‘to limit, delimit, bound’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēlīmitōWiktionary, French délimiteras dēlīmitāre‘to delimit, mark out the boundaries’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentdélimiterWiktionary, French délimitation‘to delimit’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentdélimitationWiktionary, English delimitation
  9. EnglishtodaydelimitationWiktionary, English delimitation

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- ‘to bow, to bend’

sublime, ell, subliminal, ulna, 8 more

through Latin līmes ‘a limit set between two estates or fields,…’

limes, 8 more

through Latin limitō ‘to limit, delimit, bound’

limit, 5 more

Today it means

noun The act of delimiting something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “delimitation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin limus, Latin limes, Latin delimito, French délimiter, French délimitation. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- / delimitation

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