English
delimit
Delimit comes from French délimiter ‘to delimit’, from Late Latin dēlīmitō ‘to mark out the limits’, and ultimately from Latin līmus ‘askew’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmus‘askew’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmes‘a limit set between two estates or fields, border, boundary’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CElīmitō‘to limit, to bound’
- Late Latin, derivedc. 200–600 CEdēlīmitō‘to mark out the limits’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdélimiter‘to delimit’
- Englishtodaydelimit
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmus‘askew’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmes‘a limit set between two estates or fields, border, boundary’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CElīmitō‘to limit, to bound’
- Late Latin, derivedc. 200–600 CEdēlīmitō‘to mark out the limits’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdélimiter‘to delimit’
- Englishtodaydelimit
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,…’
through Late Latin līmitō ‘to limit, to bound’
Today it means
verb To mark or fix the limits of.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin līmus / delimit