Lim"it (l&ibreve;m"&ibreve;t), n. [From
L. limes, limitis: cf. F. limite; or from E.
limit, v. See Limit, v. t.]
1. That which terminates, circumscribes,
restrains, or confines; the bound, border, or edge; the utmost
extent; as, the limit of a walk, of a town, of a country; the
limits of human knowledge or endeavor.
As eager of the chase, the maid
Beyond the forest's verdant limits strayed.
Pope.
2. The space or thing defined by
limits.
The archdeacon hath divided it
Into three limits very equally.
Shak.
3. That which terminates a period of time;
hence, the period itself; the full time or extent.
The dateless limit of thy dear
exile.
Shak.
The limit of your lives is out.
Shak.
4. A restriction; a check; a curb; a
hindrance.
I prithee, give no limits to my
tongue.
Shak.
5. (Logic & Metaph.) A determining
feature; a distinguishing characteristic; a differentia.
6. (Math.) A determinate quantity, to
which a variable one continually approaches, and may differ from it
by less than any given difference, but to which, under the law of
variation, the variable can never become exactly
equivalent.
Elastic limit. See under
Elastic. -- Prison limits, a
definite extent of space in or around a prison, within which a
prisoner has liberty to go and come.
Syn. -- Boundary; border; edge; termination; restriction;
bound; confine.
Lim"it (l&ibreve;m"&ibreve;t), v. t.
[imp. & p. p. Limited; p. pr. & vb.
n. Limiting.] [F. limiter, L.
limitare, fr. limes, limitis, limit; prob. akin
to limen threshold, E. eliminate; cf. L. limus
sidelong.] To apply a limit to, or set a limit for; to
terminate, circumscribe, or restrict, by a limit or limits; as, to
limit the acreage of a crop; to limit the issue of
paper money; to limit one's ambitions or aspirations; to
limit the meaning of a word.
Limiting parallels (Astron.), those
parallels of latitude between which only an occultation of a star or
planet by the moon, in a given case, can occur.
Lim"it, v. i. To beg, or to
exercise functions, within a certain limited region; as, a
limiting friar. [Obs.]
