limbus

English

Etymology

From Middle English limbus, from Latin limbus (“edge, border”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪmbəs

Noun

limbus (plural limbuses or limbi)

1. (medicine, biology) A border of an anatomical part, such as the edge of the cornea.

Derived terms

• limbal
• limbal ring

Related terms

• limbate

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɪmbus]

Noun

limbus m inan

1. limbo (place for innocent souls)

   Synonym: předpeklí

Declension

Declension of limbus (hard masculine inanimate foreign)

	singular	plural
nominative	limbus	limby
genitive	limbu	limbů
dative	limbu	limbům
accusative	limbus	limby
vocative	limbe	limby
locative	limbu	limbech
instrumental	limbem	limby

Further reading

• “limbus”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “limbus”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “limbus”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Latin

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly:

• from Proto-Indo-European *lemb- (“to hang loosely, hang limply”), the same tentative root as Sanskrit लम्बते (lambate, “hangs down”) and English limp, a nasal-infixed form of *leb-;
• or from Proto-Indo-European *len-, whence Lithuanian linta (“ribbon”) and Old Norse linnr (“whether”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈlim.bus/, [ˈlʲɪmbʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈlim.bus/, [ˈlimbus]

Noun

limbus m (genitive limbī); second declension

1. A border, edge

   Synonyms: margō, ōra

2. hem, fringe, tassel

   Synonyms: instita, ōra, patagīum

3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) limbo

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	limbus	limbī
Genitive	limbī	limbōrum
Dative	limbō	limbīs
Accusative	limbum	limbōs
Ablative	limbō	limbīs
Vocative	limbe	limbī

Derived terms

• limbātus

Descendants

Descendants of limbus

• Catalan: llimbs, limbe
• English: limbus, limbo, limbic
• French: limbe, limbique
• German: Limbus
• Italian: lembo, limbo
• Portuguese: limbo
• Russian: лимб (limb)
• Spanish: limbo

Further reading

• “limbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “limbus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• limbus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• limbus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “limbus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• limbus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “limbus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Middle English

Alternative forms

• lymbus, Limbus

Etymology

From Latin limbus; compare lymbo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlimbus/

Noun

limbus

1. (Late Middle English, rare) limbo (waiting place for souls)

   Synonym: lymbo

Descendants

• English: limbus
• Scots: lymbus (obsolete)

References

• “limbus, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.