Lima
/ˈlaɪmə/ name, noun
name, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Lima bean.
"We had limas with dinner last night."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Lima from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet. alt-of
Proper Noun
- 1 The capital city of Peru.
- 2 A province in Peru.
- 3 A number of places in the United States:; A township and village therein, in Adams County, Illinois.
- 4 A number of places in the United States:; A township in LaGrange County, Indiana.
- 5 A number of places in the United States:; A township in Washtenaw County, Michigan.
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 A number of places in the United States:; A township in Cass County, Minnesota.
- 7 A number of places in the United States:; A town in Beaverhead County, Montana.
- 8 A number of places in the United States:; A town and village therein, in Livingston County, New York.
- 9 A number of places in the United States:; A city, the county seat of Allen County, Ohio.
- 10 A number of places in the United States:; A former township in Licking County, Ohio, merged into Pataskala in 1996.
- 11 A number of places in the United States:; A town in Seminole County, Oklahoma.
- 12 A number of places in the United States:; A census-designated place in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
- 13 A number of places in the United States:; A town in Grant County, Wisconsin.
- 14 A number of places in the United States:; A town and unincorporated community in Pepin County, Wisconsin.
- 15 A number of places in the United States:; A town in Rock County, Wisconsin.
- 16 A number of places in the United States:; A town in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.
- 17 A locality in the Rural City of Benalla, north eastern Victoria, Australia.
Example
More examples"Green is the color of lima beans."
Etymology
Etymology 1
Ellipsis of lima bean.
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Spanish Lima, in turn, borrowed from Classical Quechua Limaq (“the one who speaks”), cognate with modern Quechua rimaq, from the name of a sanctuary identified as the Huaca de Santa Ana. The variation of /r/ > /l/ is product of the former "coastal" variety of Quechua spoken around modern-day Lima. The drop of final /q/ could be attributed either to another characteristic of Coastal Quechua or to Spanish adaptation. Ultimately derived from rimay (“to speak”).