limit
li·mit/ˈlɪm.ɪt/noun, adjective, verb
limit is spelled L-I-M-I-T: 5 letters and 2 syllables (li·mit). It appears 50 times per million words in written English, the 2,041st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, limit means “A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go or proceed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of limit is limits.
How many letters and syllables are in limit?
| Letters | 5: L-I-M-I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: li·mit |
| In writing | 50 times per million words; the 2,041st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is limit?
Limit appears 50 times per million words in written English, the 2,041st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce limit?
- /ˈlɪm.ɪt/
- /ˈlɪm.ɪʈ/
- /lɪmʈ/
Limit has 2 syllables, split li·mit in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-limit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of limit
- limits plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- limiting participle, present
- limited participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does limit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A restriction; a bound beyond which one may not go or proceed.
There are several existing limits to executive power.
- 2
A value to which a sequence converges. Equivalently, the common value of the upper limit and the lower limit of a sequence: if the upper and lower limits are different, then the sequence has no limit (i.e., does not converge).
The sequence of reciprocals has zero as its limit.
- 3
Any of several abstractions of this concept of limit.
Category theory defines a very general concept of limit.
- 4
The cone of a diagram through which any other cone of that same diagram can factor uniquely.
- 5
Fixed limit.
- 6
The final, utmost, or furthest point; the border or edge.
the limit of a walk, of a town, or of a country
- 7
obsoleteThe space or thing defined by limits.
- 8
obsoleteThat terminates a period of time; hence, the period itself; the full time or extent.
adjective
- 1
Being a fixed limit game.
verb
- 1
To restrict; to circumscribe; not to allow to go beyond a certain bound, to set boundaries.
We need to limit the power of the executive.
- 2
To have a limit in a particular set.
The sequence limits on the point a.
- 3
obsoleteTo beg, or to exercise functions, within a certain limited region.
a limiting friar
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Limit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | limite , limiter |
| German | Grenze, Begrenzer , befristen, begrenzen , Grenzwert , Limes |
| Portuguese | limite , limitar, restringir |
| Spanish | límite , limitar, cortapisar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does limit come from?
From Middle English limit, from Old French limit, from oblique stem of Latin līmes, līmit- (“a cross-path or balk between fields, hence a boundary, boundary line or wall, any path or road, border, limit”). Displaced native Old English ġemǣre. Doublet of limes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).