limerick

L1I1M3E1R1I1C3K5
/ˈlɪm(ə)ɹɪk/

noun

A humorous, often bawdy verse of five anapaestic lines, with the rhyme scheme aabba, and typically having an 8–8–5–5–8 cadence.

OriginIrish Luimneach →
Less commonScrabble 16
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Meanings

limerick1

nounlimerick (plural limericks)

plural limericks · alternative obsolete limeric

  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.

    Take a look. That’s Buffy, Muffy, and Fluffy. Do they have anything in common other than names you could write a limerick around?

    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
    1 more example

    The limerick, it would appear, Is a verse form we owe Edward Lear; Two long and two short Lines rhymed, as was taught, And a fifth just to bring up the rear.

    Description of the limerick in limerick form

Limerick2

proper nounLimerick (countable and uncountable, plural Limericks)

plural Limericks

  1. countableuncountableA county of Ireland.
  2. countableuncountableA city in County Limerick.
  3. A place in the United States:
    1. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Liberty County, Georgia.
    2. countableuncountableA neighbourhood of Louisville, Kentucky.
    3. countableuncountableA town in York County, Maine.
    4. countableuncountableA township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
  4. countableuncountableA locality in the Upper Lachlan council area, south eastern New South Wales, Australia.
  5. countableuncountableA habitational surname from Irish.

Origin

limerick · noun

  1. IrishLuimneach
  2. Englishlimerick

From the Irish town name Limerick, Irish Luimneach [ˈl̪ˠɪmʲənʲəx].

More words from Irish

Full word history & related roots →

Limerick · proper noun

  1. IrishLuimneach
  2. EnglishLimerick

Anglicized form of Irish Luimneach.

More words from Irish

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic لِيمِرِيك
  • لِيمِرِيك (līmirīk)town
Bulgarian ли́мерик, Ли́мерик
  • ли́мерик (límerik)humorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • Ли́мерик (Límerik)town
  • Ли́мерик (Límerik)county
Chinese Mandarin 五行打油詩 /五行打油诗, 利默里克
  • 五行打油詩 /五行打油诗 (wǔháng dǎyóushī)humorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • 利默里克town
Dutch limerick
  • limerickhumorous rhyming verse of five lines
Esperanto limeriko
  • limerikohumorous rhyming verse of five lines
Finnish limerikki
  • limerikkihumorous rhyming verse of five lines
French limerick
  • limerickhumorous rhyming verse of five lines
German Limerick, Limerick
  • Limerickhumorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • Limericktown
  • Limerickcounty
Greek Λίμερικ
  • Λίμερικ (Límerik)town
Hebrew חַמְשִׁיר, לימריק
  • חַמְשִׁיר (khamshír)humorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • לימריקtown
Icelandic limra
  • limrahumorous rhyming verse of five lines
Irish luimneach, Luimneach
  • luimneachhumorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • Luimneachtown
  • Cathair Luimnightown
  • Luimneachcounty
  • Contae Luimnighcounty
Japanese リメリック, リムリック
  • リメリック (rimerikku)humorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • リムリックtown
Korean 리머릭
  • 리머릭 (rimeorik)town
Latin Limericum, Limericum
  • Limericumtown
  • Limericumcounty
Lithuanian Limerikas
  • Limerikastown
Persian لیمرک
  • لیمرک (limerek)town
Polish limeryk, Limerick
  • limerykhumorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • Limericktown
  • Limerickcounty
Portuguese limerique
  • limeriquehumorous rhyming verse of five lines
Russian ли́мерик, Ли́мерик
  • ли́мерик (límerik)humorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • Ли́мерик (Límerik)town
  • Ли́мерик (Límerik)county
Scottish Gaelic Luimneach
  • Luimneachtown
Spanish quintilla, quintilla jocosa
  • quintillahumorous rhyming verse of five lines
  • quintilla jocosahumorous rhyming verse of five lines
Swedish limerick
  • limerickhumorous rhyming verse of five lines
Ukrainian Лімерик
  • Лімерик (Limeryk)town
Urdu لیمرک
  • لیمرکtown
Cite this entry
APA

limerick. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limerick

MLA

“limerick.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limerick. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “limerick,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/limerick.

Source: limerick on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.