limb

Meaning

Noun

1. A major appendage of human or animal, used for locomotion (such as an arm, leg or wing).
2. A branch of a tree.
3. The part of the bow, from the handle to the tip.
4. An elementary piece of the mechanism of a lock.
5. A thing or person regarded as a part or member of, or attachment to, something else.
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of limb of Satan (“a wicked or mischievous child”).

Verb

1. (transitive) To remove the limbs from (an animal or tree).
2. (transitive) To supply with limbs.
3. (transitive) To thoroughly defeat an opponent in fisticuffs

Synonyms

member

branch

bough

twig

extremity

leg

🦵

arm

foot

🦶

tree branch

dismember

edge

section

brim

body

small branch

end

🔚

verge

dial

fellow

flank

foreleg

fringe

inclusion

ingredient

initiate

instalment

joint

leaf

ledge

limbo

limbus

lip

lot

marge

margin

melody

moiety

movement

neb

offshoot

organ

pad

parcel

passage

paw

peak

piece

portion

radius

rim

Translations

membre

Glied

membro

arto

miembro

limbe

membro

lidmaat

lid

extremidad

🔚

branche

Gliedmaße

Ast

Pronounced as (IPA)

/lɪm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: lyme

Inherited from Old English: lim

Cognate with Old Norse: limr

In summary

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.