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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Is there a linguistic connection between "lime" the citrus fruit and "lime", Ca(OH)-subscript-2, also known as the stone we sweeten our soil with or put on dirt roads in the summer to extract water from the air and keep the dust down?
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
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According to my dictionary, there are two "lime" words. The mineral product
is from a Germanic root, the fruit is from an Arabic root.
As I have previously posted, first European to learn cure of scurvy was
Jacques Cartier, whose whole crew on second voyage developed scurvy about
1550, and was shown cure by an Indian boy he had taken back to France from
virst trip, who showed him tea made from spruce tips was antiscorbutic.Sadly
this was not learned from Cartier's memooirs until modern times.
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Joined: Dec 2002
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addict
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addict
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Pulled this up from NODE; Multiple origins seem to be the case
LIME1
noun (also quicklime) [mass noun] a white caustic alkaline substance consisting of calcium oxide, which is obtained by heating limestone and combines with water with the production of much heat.n
(also slaked lime) a white alkaline substance consisting of calcium hydroxide, made by adding water to quicklime.
n(in general use) any of a number of calcium compounds, especially calcium hydroxide, used as an additive to soil or water.
n archaic birdlime.
verb [with obj.]
1 treat (soil or water) with lime to reduce acidity and improve fertility or oxygen levels.n [often as adj.] (limed) give (wood) a bleached appearance by treating it with lime: limed oak dining furniture.
2 archaic catch (a bird) with birdlime.
DERIVATIVES
limy adjective (limier, limiest).
ORIGIN Old English līm, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lijm, German Leim, also to loam.
LIME2 noun
1 a rounded citrus fruit similar to a lemon but greener, smaller, and with a distinctive acid flavour.n [mass noun] a drink made from or flavoured with lime juice: lager and lime.
2 (also lime tree) the evergreen citrus tree which produces this fruit, widely cultivated in warm climates.
• Citrus aurantifolia, family Rutaceae.
3 [mass noun] a bright light green colour like that of a lime: [as modifier] dayglo orange, pink, or lime green.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from French, from modern Provençal limo, Spanish lima, from Arabic līma; compare with lemon.
LIME3 (also lime tree)
noun a deciduous tree with heart-shaped leaves and fragrant yellowish blossom, native to north temperate regions. The pale timber is used for carving and cheap furniture. Also called linden.
• Genus Tilia, family Tiliaceae: many species, including the widely grown hybrid common lime (T. × europaea), and the small-leaved lime (T. cordata), which dominated the pre-Neolithic forests of much of lowland England.
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: alteration of obsolete line, from Old English lind (see linden).
LIME4 W. Indian
verb [no obj., with adverbial] sit or stand around talking with others: boys and girls were liming along the roadside as if they didn't have anything to do.
noun an informal social gathering characterized by semi-ritualized talking.
ORIGIN origin uncertain; said to be from Limey (because of the number of British sailors present during the Second World War), or from suck a lime, expressing bitterness at not being invited to a gathering.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,613 |
One of the very earliest questions asked here was about the word limose. I don't think we ever got a good definition.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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limose?
Geol. and Bot. rare.
Pertaining to, of the nature of mud; growing in mud.
[OED2]
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks, tsuwm! I remember, I think, that he gave a context that somewhat indicated this. Hartnett, I think it was.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Oh well, I see tsuwm's back basking in the limelight ...
- Pfranz
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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limn>from the AHD: limn:
PRONUNCIATION: lim [my edit: lime]
TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: limned, limn·ing (limnng), limns
1. To describe. 2. To depict by painting or drawing. See synonyms at represent.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English limnen, to illuminate (a manuscript), probably alteration (influenced by limnour, illustrator) of luminen, from Old French luminer, from Latin luminre, to illuminate, adorn, from lumen, lumin-, light. See leuk- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS: limner (limnr) —NOUN*many of the quick defititions of limn give "to outline" as the meaning. [the paste deleted all the hash marks and their letters, and I had to put the letters back in. The "U"s in lumen and all it's forms are the ong yoo (hey, that has to be a word wentworth, how else to say it and not be another word?  ), and the "i" in lim is long...lime] So in sports where you outline select portions of the field with lime (in baseball, for instance), technically you're limning the batter's box with lime. However, it seems lime has taken over as the verb in modern usage, so we now just say "lime the batter's box", and the word lime takes over both functions as verb and noun.
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