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limn

/lɪm/verb

limn is a verb meaning “To draw or paint; to delineate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled L-I-M-N and has one syllable, and it appears about once in every 38 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does limn mean?

verb

  1. 1

    To draw or paint; to delineate.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo illuminate, as a manuscript; to decorate with gold or some other bright colour.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce limn?

  • US /lɪm/

Limn has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-limn.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of limn

  • limns present, singular, he/she/it
  • limning participle, present
  • limned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is limn?

Limn appears about once in every 38 million words in written English, the 189,524th 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).

Words people confuse with limn

Sounds like: limb (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Limn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdessiner (to draw – see also draw), peindre (to paint – see also paint), dépeindre (to delineate – see also delineate), enluminer (to illuminate, as a manuscript – see also…)

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.