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Origin and history of limp

limp(v.)

"move with a halting or jerky step," 1560s, of unknown origin, not found in Old or Middle English; perhaps related to Middle English lympen "to fall short" (c. 1400), which probably is from Old English lemphealt "halting, lame, limping," the first element of which is itself obscure.

OED notes that German lampen "to hang limp" (Middle High German limphin) "has been compared." Perhaps it is from a PIE root meaning "slack, loose, to hang down" (source also of Sanskrit lambate "hangs down," Middle High German lampen "to hang down"). Related: Limped; limping. Limpen in Middle English was a different verb, "to happen, befall, fall to the lot of," from Old English limpan, which might ultimately be from the same root.

also from 1560s

limp(adj.)

"flaccid, drooping, lacking stiffness or firmness," 1706, of obscure origin, apparently from the first element in Old English lemphealt (see limp (v.)). Related: Limply; limpness. A limp wrist as indicative of male effeminate homosexuality is from 1960.

also from 1706

limp(n.)

1818, from limp (v.).

also from 1818

Entries linking to limp

blimp(n.)

"non-rigid airship," 1916, of obscure origin, with many claimants (even J.R.R. Tolkien had a guess at it). "One of the weird coinages of the airmen" [Weekley]. Common theory (which dates to 1919) is that it is from the designers' prototype nickname Type B-limp, in the sense of "without internal framework," as opposed to Type A-rigid; thus see limp (adj.), but references are wanting. There apparently was a type b in the U.S. military's development program for airships in World War I.

limb(n.2)

late 14c., "edge of a quadrant or other instrument," from Latin limbus "ornamental border, hem, fringe, edge," a word of uncertain origin. Klein suggests it is cognate with Sanskrit lambate "hang down limply" and English limp (adj.). Tucker writes that "the sense appears to be that of something which twists, goes round, or binds ... not of something which hangs loose," and suggests cognates in Lithuanian linta "ribbon," Old Norse linnr "whether." De Vaan tends to agree with Klein and writes, "In view of the phoneme *b, the very specific meaning of limbus and its absence from the oldest literature, the etymology remains uncertain." Astronomical sense of "edge of the disk of a heavenly body" first attested 1670s. Related: Limbal.