English
limes
Limes comes from Latin līmes ‘a limit set between two estates or fields,…’, and goes back to līmus ‘askew’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmus1‘askew’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmes2‘a limit set between two estates or fields, border, boundary’
- Englishearliest quotation 2011limes2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin limes
- 2 Wiktionary, English limes
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms: “Their presence in the late fourth century on the…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmusWiktionary, Latin limes‘askew’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmesWiktionary, English limes‘a limit set between two estates or fields, border, boundary’
- Englishearliest quotation 2011limesWiktionary, English limes. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2011, Norman Davies, Vanished Kingdoms: “Their presence in the late fourth century on the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- ‘to bow, to bend’
ell, sublime, subliminal, ulna, 6 more
through Proto-Italic *līmos
through Latin līmus ‘askew’
through Latin līmes ‘a limit set between two estates or fields,…’
Today it means
noun A boundary or border, especially of the Roman Empire.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “limes”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin limes. 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 / Latin līmus / limes