Dictionary

limerick en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈlɪm(ə)ɹɪk/
• (US) audio

Etymology

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

Meanings

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:
   • 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

Forms

Deriveds

limerickist · limericist · limerick hook · limerist · limeraiku

Translations (17)

ga luimneach (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · he חַמְשִׁיר (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · cmn 五行打油詩 /五行打油诗 (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · fi limerikki (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · bg ли́мерик (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · pl limeryk (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · sv limerick (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · nl limerick (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · pt limerique (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · ru ли́мерик (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · eo limeriko (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · is limra (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · es quintilla jocosa (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · ja リメリック (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · es quintilla (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · de Limerick (humorous rhyming verse of five lines) · fr limerick (humorous rhyming verse of five lines)