English
limitrophe
Limitrophe comes from French limitrophe ‘bordering’, from Latin limitrophus ‘feeding the frontier soldiers’, and ultimately from līmus ‘askew’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmus‘askew’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmes‘border’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElimitrophus‘feeding the frontier soldiers’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600limitrophe
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘bordering’
- Englishearliest quotation 1877same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmus‘askew’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmes‘border’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElimitrophus‘feeding the frontier soldiers’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600limitrophe
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘bordering’
- Englishearliest quotation 1877same form
Earliest quotation: 1877, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Comm, Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons: “As was stipulated in the Firman of 1249, Servia…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- ‘to bow, to bend’
sublime, ell, subliminal, ulna, 6 more
through Latin līmus ‘askew’
through Latin līmes ‘border’
Today it means
adj Border, frontier; being or existing along a border or frontier.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin līmus / limitrophe