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Added 3 October 2026

limb

/lɪm/ noun

In Latin: membrum, artus, articulus Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about limb at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A major appendage of human or animal, used for locomotion (such as an arm, leg or wing).
A branch of a tree.
The part of the bow, from the handle to the tip.

verb

To remove the limbs from (an animal or tree).
They limbed the felled trees before cutting them into logs.
To supply with limbs.
To thoroughly defeat an opponent in fisticuffs
Brian limbed Roger over at the Beahive last night.

noun

The apparent visual edge of a celestial body.
the solar limb
The graduated edge of a circle or arc.
The border or upper spreading part of a monopetalous corolla, or of a petal or sepal; blade.

Origin

From Middle English lyme, lim, from Old English lim (“limb, branch”), from Proto-West Germanic *limu, from Proto-Germanic *limuz (“branch, limb”). Cognate with Old Norse limr (“limb”). The spelling with the silent unetymological -b first arose in the late 1500s. Compare crumb.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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