Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “limit” come from?

Limit comes from Middle English limit, from Old French limit, from Latin limes, ultimately from Latin ligo meaning to bind or tie.

limit (English): A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not...

Definitions

  1. A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not...

Ancestry of “limit”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishlimit—
2Old Frenchlimit—
3Latinlīmes—
4Latinlīmus—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂leyH-to smear
6Proto-Indo-Europeanleyh₂-to die, disapear; to avoid, elude, decline,...

Words derived from “limit”

  • limiting
  • unlimited
  • limitless
  • illimitable
  • limiter
  • limitlessness
  • limitlessly
  • unlimitedly
  • illimitably
  • unlimitedness
  • unlimit
  • limitable
  • nonlimiting
  • colimit
  • extralimital
  • limiteth
  • bandlimiting
  • unlimitable
  • illimitableness
  • limitarian
  • unlimiting
  • limital
  • prelimit
  • limitingly
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leyh₂- →