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LIMBER

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 691 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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LIMBER , an homonymous word, having three meanings. (1) A two-wheeled See also:

CARRIAGE

carriage forming a detachable See also:

PART

part of the equipment of all guns on travelling carriages and having on it a framework to contain See also:

AMMUNITION

ammunition boxes, and, in most cases, seats for two or three gunners. The See also:

French See also:

EQUIVALENT

equivalent is avant-See also:

TRAIN (M. Eng. trayn or trayne, derived through Fr. from Late Lat. trahinare, to drag, draw, Lat. trahere, cf. trail, trace, ultimately from the same source)

train, the Ger. Protz (see See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

ARTILLERY and See also:

ORDNANCE (a syncopated form of " ordinance " or " ordonnance," so spelt in this sense since the 17th century)

ORDNANCE). (2) An See also:

ADJECTIVE (from the Lat. adjectives, added)

adjective meaning pliant or flexible and so used with reference to a See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person's See also:

MENTAL

mental or bodily qualities, See also:

QUICK

quick, nimble, adroit. (3) A nautical See also:

TERM

term for the holes cut in the flooring in a See also:

SHIP

ship above the keelson, to allow See also:

WATER

water to drain to the pumps. The See also:

ETYMOLOGY (Gr. grvµos, true, and X6yos, "account)

etymology of these words is obscure. According to the New See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

DICTIONARY

Dictionary the origin of (I) is to be found in the Fr. limoniere, a derivative of See also:

LIMON, or PORT LIMON

Limon, the See also:

shaft of a vehicle, a meaning which appears in English from the 15th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century but is now obsolete, except apparently among the miners of the See also:

north of See also:

England. The earlier English forms of the word are lymor or limrner. See also:

SKEAT, WALTER WILLIAM (1835– )

Skeat suggests that (2) is connected with " limp," which he refers to a See also:

Teutonic See also:

BASE

base See also:

lap-. meaning to hang down. The New English Dictionarypoints out that while " limp " does not occur till the beginning of the 18th century, " limber " in this sense is found as See also:

early as the 16th. In See also:

Thomas See also:

Cooper's (1517 ?–1594) See also:

THESAURUS (Gr. B17o-avp6s)

Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae (1565), it appears as the English equivalent of the Latin lentus.

End of Article: LIMBER

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