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lime

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: limé, līme, łime, and limë

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English lyme, lym, lime, from Old English līm, from Proto-West Germanic *līm, from Proto-Germanic *līmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Liem (“glue”), Dutch lijm, German Leim (“glue”), Danish lim (from Old Norse lím), Latin limus (“mud”).

Noun

lime (countable and uncountable, plural limes)

  2. (chemistry) Any inorganic material containing calcium, usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).
    • 1952, L.F. Salzman, Building in England, page 149:
      Lime, which is the product of the burning of chalk or limestone, might be bought ready burnt, or it could be burnt in kilns specially constructed in the neighbourhood of the building operations.
  3. (poetic) Any gluey or adhesive substance that traps or captures; sometimes a synonym for birdlime.
  4. (theater) A limelight; any spotlight.
    • 1980, Peter Evans, Peter Sellers: The Mask Behind the Mask, page 30:
      Sellers moved on until he was actually trusted to operate the limes, the spotlights that can make or destroy an artist's act.
    • 2018, Robert Charles Hines, Twists and Turns: 13 Tales of the Uneasy, page 121:
      Then out of the blue, a spotlight much like the “limes” in a theatre, lit up what seemed like a Punch and Judy tent […] He struggled even more, when from out of the shadows and into the bright light of the limes, stepped Uncle Jolly.
Derived terms
terms derived from lime (alkali substance)
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also
Entries of interest

Verb

lime (third-person singular simple present limes, present participle liming, simple past and past participle limed)

  1. (transitive) To treat with calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide (lime).
  2. (transitive) To smear with birdlime.
    1. (rare) To ensnare, catch, entrap.
  3. (transitive) To apply limewash.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

    Lime (17th c.) and line (16th c.) are alterations of obsolete lind, from Middle English lynde, from Old English lind, from Proto-Germanic *lindijō. The phonetic development is unusual, but it has been suggested that it began in compounds (loss of -d- perhaps before tree, the change to -m- before labials as in bark or wood). Doublet of linden, which see.

    Noun

    lime (countable and uncountable, plural limes)

    1. A deciduous tree of the genus Tilia, especially Tilia × europaea; the linden tree.
      • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 158:
        The linden or lime tree is the favourite haunt of the Elves and cognate beings; and it is not safe to be near it after sunset.
      • 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter III, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 38:
        But there was nothing of an ascetic's expression in her bright full eyes, as she looked before her, not consciously seeing, but absorbing into the intensity of her mood, the solemn glory of the afternoon with its long swathes of light between the far-off rows of limes, whose shadows touched each other.
    2. The wood of this tree.
    Usage notes
    • This tree (the linden) is unrelated to the citrus tree called lime (see Etymology 3 below). Both are trees with fragrant flowers, but the linden is more temperate, while the citrus is more tropical and subtropical. Outside Europe and adjoining parts of Asia, the citrus sense is much more common.
    Derived terms
    terms derived from noun lime (tree)
    Translations

    Etymology 3

    English Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia

    From French lime, from Spanish lima, from Arabic لِيمَة (līma), from Persian لیمو (limu). Doublet of lemon.

    Noun

    lime (countable and uncountable, plural limes)

    2. Any of several green citrus fruit, somewhat smaller and sharper-tasting than a lemon.
    3. Any of the trees that bear limes, especially Key lime, Citrus aurantiifolia.
    5. (uncountable) Any of several brilliant, sometimes yellowish, green colours associated with the fruits of a lime tree.
      Synonym: lime green (broadly synonymous, precisely hyponymous)
      lime:  
      lime:  
      lime:  
      lime green:  
      Web lime:  
      bright lime:  
      electric lime:  
      Arctic lime:  
      Key lime:  
      French lime:  
      1. A particular one of those colours that has been standardized under this name, at least in some organizations' standards.
        lime:  
        lime:  
        lime:  
    6. (fandom slang) A fan fiction story which contains sexual references, but stops short of full, explicit descriptions of sexual activity (coined by analogy with lemon).
      • 1998 June 8, Gary Kleppe, “[Ranma][Fanfic] Tangled Web”, in rec.arts.anime.creative‎ (Usenet):
        WARNING: This is a lime. While it does not show explicit sex, as a lemon would, references to sexual situations abound.
      • 1998 December 29, jiml...@earthlink.net, “[EVA][FanFic][Lemon] Garden of EVA 0:6x - Wet Dreams Bite!”, in rec.arts.anime.creative‎ (Usenet):
        Even with all the sex in Garden of EVA, I still think the main stories are better for just being the lemon-scented limes that they are.
      • 2001 November 27, Schemer, “[Ranma/SF][FanFic] A Learning Experience - Chapter 01”, in rec.arts.anime.creative‎ (Usenet):
        I have no intention of writing any lemon scenes, limes are possibilities but unlikely and if they occur they will be few in number.
    Usage notes
    • The citrus is unrelated to the linden tree, which often goes by the same name (see Etymology 2 above). Both are trees with fragrant flowers, but the linden is more temperate, while the citrus is more tropical and subtropical. Outside Europe and adjoining parts of Asia, the citrus sense is much more common.
    Hypernyms
    Derived terms
    terms derived from lime ("Citrus")
    Translations
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked
    See also
    terms of interest for lime (noun) fruit and color
    Colo(u)rs in English (layout · text)
                 red          orange              yellow              green              blue (incl.      indigo;
                 cyan, teal, turquoise)    		              purple / violet
             pink (including
             magenta)    		          brown      white              gray/grey      black

    Adjective

    lime (not comparable)

    1. Containing lime or lime juice.
    2. Having the aroma or flavor of lime.
    3. Lime-green.
    Translations

    Etymology 4

    More information A user suggests that this English entry be moved, merged or split. ...

    Either a back-formation of limer or from the derogatory term limey, a term first given to British soldiers but also used by Trinidadians for American soldiers who used to hang out idle in Port of Spain during World War 2.

    Verb

    lime (third-person singular simple present limes, present participle liming, simple past and past participle limed)

    1. (Caribbean, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, informal) To hang out or socialize in an informal, relaxed environment, especially with friends, for example at a party or on the beach.

    Noun

    lime (plural limes)

    1. (Caribbean, Trinidad & Tobago) A casual gathering to socialize.

    Etymology 5

    Noun

    lime (plural limes)

    1. Alternative form of lyam (“a leash”).
    Derived terms

    Anagrams

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    Bakumpai

    Etymology

    Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *lima.

    Numeral

    lime

    1. five

    Danish

    Etymology 1

    From English lime.

    Noun

    lime c (singular definite limen, plural indefinite lime or limes)

    1. lime (fruit)
    Inflection
    More information common gender, singular ...

    Etymology 2

    From the noun lim (“glue”).

    Verb

    lime (imperative lim, infinitive at lime, present tense limer, past tense limede, perfect tense har limet)

    1. to glue

    Fataluku

    Numeral

    lime

    1. five

    Finnish

    Etymology

    From English lime.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈlime/, [ˈlime̞]
    • IPA(key): /ˈlɑi̯m/, [ˈlɑ̝i̯m]
    • Rhymes: -ime
    • Syllabification(key): li‧me
    • Hyphenation(key): li‧me

    Noun

    lime

    1. (proscribed) lime (citrus tree and its fruit)
      Synonym: limetti
    2. lime or lemon juice as part of a cocktail

    Declension

    More information nominative, genitive ...
    More information first-person singular possessor, singular ...

    Derived terms

    compounds

    Further reading

    Anagrams

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    French

    Pronunciation

    Etymology 1

    From Latin līma.

    Noun

    lime f (plural limes)

    1. file (tool)
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2

    Borrowed from Spanish lima, from Arabic لِيمَة (līma).

    Noun

    lime f (plural limes)

    1. (Belgium, Canada) lime (fruit, tree)
      Synonym: limette

    Further reading

    Anagrams

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    Galician

    Verb

    lime

    1. inflection of limar:
      1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
      2. third-person singular imperative

    Italian

    Jamaican Creole

    Latin

    Middle English

    Norwegian Bokmål

    Norwegian Nynorsk

    Old English

    Portuguese

    Spanish

    Swedish

    Yakan

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