"limerick" meaning in English

See limerick in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈlɪm(ə)ɹɪk/ Audio: en-us-limerick.ogg Forms: limericks [plural]
Etymology: From the Irish town name Limerick, Irish Luimneach [ˈl̪ˠɪmʲənʲəx]. Etymology templates: {{der|en|ga|Luimneach}} Irish Luimneach Head templates: {{en-noun}} limerick (plural limericks)
  1. A humorous, often bawdy verse of five anapaestic lines, with the rhyme scheme aabba, and typically having an 8–8–5–5–8 cadence. Categories (topical): Comedy, Poetry Derived forms: limerick hook Translations (humorous rhyming verse of five lines): 五行打油詩 (Chinese Mandarin), 五行打油诗 (wǔháng dǎyóushī) (Chinese Mandarin), limerick (Dutch), limeriko (Esperanto), limerikki (Finnish), limerick [masculine] (French), Limerick [neuter] (German), limra [feminine] (Icelandic), luimneach [masculine] (Irish), リメリック (rimerikku) (Japanese), limeryk [masculine] (Polish), limerique [masculine] (Portuguese), ли́мерик (límerik) [masculine] (Russian), quintilla [feminine] (Spanish), limerick [common-gender] (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ga",
        "3": "Luimneach"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish Luimneach",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the Irish town name Limerick, Irish Luimneach [ˈl̪ˠɪmʲənʲəx].",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "limericks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "limerick (plural limericks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 3 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Esperanto translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Icelandic translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Irish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Comedy",
          "orig": "en:Comedy",
          "parents": [
            "Drama",
            "Theater",
            "Art",
            "Entertainment",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Poetry",
          "orig": "en:Poetry",
          "parents": [
            "Art",
            "Literature",
            "Culture",
            "Entertainment",
            "Writing",
            "Society",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Language",
            "All topics",
            "Human",
            "Communication",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "limerick hook"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "Description of the limerick in limerick form",
          "text": "The limerick, it would appear,\nIs a verse form we owe Edward Lear;\nTwo long and two short\nLines rhymed, as was taught,\nAnd a fifth just to bring up the rear."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 May 24, Rhonda Smiley, “Sis-KaBOOM-Bah!”, in Totally Spies!: Undercover, season 4, episode 15, spoken by Jerry Lewis and Samantha “Sam” (Adrian Truss and Jennifer Hale), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:",
          "text": "Take a look. That’s Buffy, Muffy, and Fluffy.\nDo they have anything in common other than names you could write a limerick around?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A humorous, often bawdy verse of five anapaestic lines, with the rhyme scheme aabba, and typically having an 8–8–5–5–8 cadence."
      ],
      "id": "en-limerick-en-noun-GbWPdqc2",
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "bawdy",
          "bawdy"
        ],
        [
          "verse",
          "verse"
        ],
        [
          "anapaestic",
          "anapestic"
        ],
        [
          "rhyme",
          "rhyme"
        ],
        [
          "scheme",
          "scheme"
        ],
        [
          "cadence",
          "cadence"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "word": "五行打油詩"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "wǔháng dǎyóushī",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "word": "五行打油诗"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "word": "limerick"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "word": "limeriko"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "word": "limerikki"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "limerick"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Limerick"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "limra"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "luimneach"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "rimerikku",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "word": "リメリック"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "limeryk"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "limerique"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "límerik",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "ли́мерик"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "quintilla"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "limerick"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈlɪm(ə)ɹɪk/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-limerick.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/En-us-limerick.ogg/En-us-limerick.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/En-us-limerick.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "limerick"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "limerick hook"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ga",
        "3": "Luimneach"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish Luimneach",
      "name": "der"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the Irish town name Limerick, Irish Luimneach [ˈl̪ˠɪmʲənʲəx].",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "limericks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "limerick (plural limericks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms derived from Irish",
        "English terms derived from toponyms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
        "Pages with 3 entries",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Esperanto translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Icelandic translations",
        "Terms with Irish translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "Terms with Mandarin translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "en:Comedy",
        "en:Poetry"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "Description of the limerick in limerick form",
          "text": "The limerick, it would appear,\nIs a verse form we owe Edward Lear;\nTwo long and two short\nLines rhymed, as was taught,\nAnd a fifth just to bring up the rear."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 May 24, Rhonda Smiley, “Sis-KaBOOM-Bah!”, in Totally Spies!: Undercover, season 4, episode 15, spoken by Jerry Lewis and Samantha “Sam” (Adrian Truss and Jennifer Hale), Marathon Media, via Teletoon:",
          "text": "Take a look. That’s Buffy, Muffy, and Fluffy.\nDo they have anything in common other than names you could write a limerick around?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A humorous, often bawdy verse of five anapaestic lines, with the rhyme scheme aabba, and typically having an 8–8–5–5–8 cadence."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "humorous",
          "humorous"
        ],
        [
          "bawdy",
          "bawdy"
        ],
        [
          "verse",
          "verse"
        ],
        [
          "anapaestic",
          "anapestic"
        ],
        [
          "rhyme",
          "rhyme"
        ],
        [
          "scheme",
          "scheme"
        ],
        [
          "cadence",
          "cadence"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈlɪm(ə)ɹɪk/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-limerick.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/En-us-limerick.ogg/En-us-limerick.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/En-us-limerick.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "word": "五行打油詩"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "wǔháng dǎyóushī",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "word": "五行打油诗"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "word": "limerick"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "word": "limeriko"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "word": "limerikki"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "limerick"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Limerick"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "limra"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "luimneach"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "rimerikku",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "word": "リメリック"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "limeryk"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "limerique"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "límerik",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "ли́мерик"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "quintilla"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "humorous rhyming verse of five lines",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "limerick"
    }
  ],
  "word": "limerick"
}

Download raw JSONL data for limerick meaning in English (4.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.