# limb

> English word · Noun · IPA /lɪm/ · frequency rank #11,244

## Definitions
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. Ellipsis of limb of Satan (“a wicked or mischievous child”).

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **LM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lm)
- **lit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lit)
- **lip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lip)
- **Liz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-liz)
- **lin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lin)
- **Liu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-liu)
- **Liv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-liv)
- **lis** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lis)
- **lob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lob)
- **lum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lum)
- **live** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-live)
- **line** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-line)
- **list** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-list)
- **link** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-link)
- **lips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lips)
- **Lisa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lisa)
- **lion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lion)
- **lime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lime)
- **lump** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lump)
- **lite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/limb-vs-lite)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ilmb`, `libm`, `limbb`, `limmb`, `llimb`, `lmib`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/limb