LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

līma1

līma f (genitive līmae)
Classical[ˈliː.ma]Ecclesiastical[ˈliː.ma]

Meaning

  1. file (carpenter's tool)
  2. polishing, revision (of a literary composition)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativelīmalīmae
genitivelīmaelīmārum
dativelīmaelīmīs
accusativelīmamlīmās
ablativelīmālīmīs
vocativelīmalīmae

līma, ae, f. etym. unknown,
I. a file.
I. Lit.: limā proterere aliquid, Plaut. Men. 1, 1, 9: limā aliquid avellere, Plin. 9, 35, 54, § 109: limā aliquid polire, id. 28, 9, 41, § 148: topazius limam sentit, id. 37, 8, 32, § 109: confitendum est detrahere doctrinam aliquid, ut limam rudibus, * Quint. 2, 12, 8: vipera limam momordit, Phaedr. 4, 8, 5.—
II. Trop., a file, as applied to literary compositions, i. e. polishing, revision (not in Cic.; cf., however, limatus, under limo): defuit et scriptis ultima lima meis, Ov. Tr. 1, 7, 30: incipiam limā mordacius uti, Et sub judicium singula verba vocem, id. P. 1, 5, 19: limae labor et mora, Hor. A. P. 291: carmina rasa limā recenti, Mart. 10, 2, 3: in illis limae, in hoc plus videtur fuisse sanguinis, Vell. 2, 9, 2: ad limam consilii desiderium petitoris distulit, App. M. 8, p. 204 fin.

Origins

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”). Cognates include Latin limus, English slime, German Schleim (“mucus, slime”) and Ancient Greek λίμνη (límnē, “marsh”).

Elsewhere
  • Catalanllima
  • Frenchlime
  • Italianlima
  • Portugueselima
  • Spanishlima
  • Albanianlimë
  • Emilianlémma
  • Galicianlima
  • Sicilianlima
  • Bretonlivnfrom Proto-Brythonic *lliβ̃
Proto-Berber
  • Tarifittlima
  • Tashelhittalima

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesLimaLima (ῥίνη), a file, was made of iron or steel, for the purpose of polishing metal or stone, and appears to have been of the same form as the instrume…
proper noun · femininefirst declension
Līma2
Līma f sg (genitive Līmae)
Ecclesiastical[ˈliː.ma]

Meaning

  1. New LatinLima (the capital city of Peru)
    Scilicet Februario mense proximo Limae congregabitur in Peruvia Quartus numero Congressus eius indolis clarae, cui singulare profecto inditum est et nomen et propositum: “America Latina, unde tua fides ipsa missionarios emittit”.1991 January 26, Pope John Paul II, NUNTIUS GRATULATORIUS DATUS IOSEPHO CARDINALI TOMKO, MISSO EXTRAORDINARIO AD QUARTUM CONGRESSUM MISSIONALEM LATINUM-AMERICANUM LIMAE IN PERUVIA, Vatican: The Holy See, archived from the original on 17 Sep 2021:

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativeLīma—
genitiveLīmae—
dativeLīmae—
accusativeLīmam—
ablativeLīmā—
vocativeLīma—

Origins

Borrowed from Spanish Lima.

In the Academy Smith's classical dictionaries

AntiquitiesLimaLima (ῥίνη), a file, was made of iron or steel, for the purpose of polishing metal or stone, and appears to have been of the same form as the instrume…

Quick answers

What does līma mean in Latin?
līma, a noun, means “file (carpenter's tool); polishing, revision (of a literary composition)”.
What is the genitive of līma?
The genitive singular is līmae. līma is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce līma?
In classical Latin, [ˈliː.ma]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈliː.ma].