lime

C2+ Topic:Plants & Agriculture

US /laɪm/ UK /laɪm/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like rhyme /l/ vs /ɹ/

Meanings

1

noun
a green citrus fruit; a calcium compound; or to treat soil with lime

He squeezed a lime over the grilled fish.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a green citrus fruit; a... calxquicklimelimestone

Word family

Derived forms limeyliminglimedlimy

Related forms limestonelimewater

Etymology

From Old English līm ('sticky substance, birdlime, mortar'), from Proto-Germanic *līmaz, related to Latin līmus ('mud, slime'). The citrus sense is a separate word, from French lime, via Provençal limo from Arabic līma.

līm Old English *līmaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Plants & Agriculture

External links

# lime

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /laɪm/
**IPA (UK):** /laɪm/

## Meanings
1. a green citrus fruit; a calcium compound; or to treat soil with lime

## Examples
- He squeezed a lime over the grilled fish.

## Synonyms
- calx
- quicklime
- limestone

## Derived Forms
- limey
- liming
- limed
- limy

## Related Forms
- limestone
- limewater

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: līm
- Root: *līmaz

## Etymology
From Old English līm ('sticky substance, birdlime, mortar'), from Proto-Germanic *līmaz, related to Latin līmus ('mud, slime'). The citrus sense is a separate word, from French lime, via Provençal limo from Arabic līma.

## AI Etymology
Lime comes from Old English līm ('sticky substance, birdlime, mortar'), from Proto-Germanic *līmaz, related to Latin līmus ('mud, slime'). The citrus sense is a separate word, from French lime, via Provençal limo from Arabic līma. The etymological trail includes Old English līm, Proto-Germanic *līmaz. The same word family includes limey, liming, limed, limy, limestone, limewater. Its current noun use means "a green citrus fruit; a calcium compound; or to treat soil with lime".

## Topics
- Plants & Agriculture

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