lima
/ˈlaɪmə/ noun, proper noun
Forms limas
- noun Lima bean (the plant, Phaseolus lunatus). “We planted limas with the corn last night.”
- noun Lima bean (the fruit of the plant). “We had limas with dinner last night.”
- proper noun The capital city of Peru.
- proper noun (metonymic) The Peruvian government.
- proper noun A province in Peru.
- proper noun A township and village therein, in Adams County, Illinois.
- proper noun A township in LaGrange County, Indiana.
- proper noun A township in Washtenaw County, Michigan.
- proper noun A township in Cass County, Minnesota.
- proper noun A town in Beaverhead County, Montana.
Synonyms
Etymology
Ellipsis of lima bean. Doublet of Lima.
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”). Doublet of lima [bean].
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lima”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details