English
limbmeal
Limbmeal comes from Old English limmǣlum ‘limbmeal, limb by limb’, and goes back to lim.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lim
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150limmǣlum‘limbmeal, limb by limb’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lymmele
- Englishearliest quotation 1611limbmeal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lim
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150limmǣlum‘limbmeal, limb by limb’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lymmele
- Englishearliest quotation 1611limbmeal
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Tragedie of Cymbeline: “O, that I had her here, to tear her…”
Formed from limb + -meal
Proto-Germanic *limuz ‘branch, limb’
Proto-West Germanic *limu ‘limb, member (of the body)’
Old English lim ‘limb, branch’
Middle English lyme ‘organ, body part’
English limb
Linked words
through Old English lim
Today it means
adv Into pieces; limb from limb.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English lim / limbmeal