Etymograph

English

limb

Limb comes from Middle English lyme ‘organ, body part’, from Old English lim ‘limb, branch’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *limuz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*limuz‘branch, limb’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*limu‘limb, member (of the body)’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150lim‘limb, branch’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lyme‘organ, body part’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588limb

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*limuz‘branch, limb’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*limu‘limb, member (of the body)’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150lim‘limb, branch’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lyme‘organ, body part’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588limb

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “UUhoſe hands are made to gripe a warlike Lance—…”

Linked words

through Middle English lyme ‘organ, body part’

lime

Another origin of limb

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lemb-‘to hang loosely, hang limply’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElimbus‘border’
  3. Englishtodaylimb

Today it means

noun A major appendage of human or animal, used for locomotion (such as an arm, leg or wing).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *limuz / limb

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