limerick

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Language, Linguistics, and Literary Terms > Literature: General > ...

limerick

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

limerick type of humorous verse. It is always short, often nonsensical, and sometimes ribald. Of unknown origin, the limerick is popular rather than literary and has even been used in advertising. The rhyme scheme of most limericks is usually aabba, as in the following example:

There was an old man from Peru,
Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.
  He woke in a fright
  In the middle of the night
And found it was perfectly true.
The most famous collection of limericks is Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense (1846).

Bibliography: See L. Reed, The Complete Limerick Book (1925); C. P. Aiken, A Seizure of Limericks (1964); V. B. Holland, An Explosion of Limericks (1967); W. S. Baring-Gould, The Lure of the Limerick (1967).

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-limerick" title="Facts and information about limerick">limerick</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"limerick." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"limerick." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 16, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-limerick.html

"limerick." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-limerick.html

Learn more about citation styles

limerick

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

limerick XIX. Said to be derived from a custom of singing ‘Will you come up to Limerick?’ at parties at which verses were extemporized.
Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O27-limerick" title="Facts and information about limerick">limerick</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

T. F. HOAD. "limerick." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "limerick." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (December 16, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-limerick.html

T. F. HOAD. "limerick." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved December 16, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-limerick.html

Learn more about citation styles

limerick

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | © The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

lim·er·ick / ˈlim(ə)rik/ • n. a humorous, frequently bawdy, verse of three long and two short lines rhyming aabba, popularized by Edward Lear.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O999-limerick005" title="Facts and information about limerick">limerick</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"limerick." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"limerick." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (December 16, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-limerick005.html

"limerick." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-limerick005.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related research questions

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Even in death, McCourt's `Ashes' divides Limerick
News Wire article from: AP Online; 7/20/2009
Free Article QAD And the University of Limerick Partner to Accelerate Software Development and Integration; Joint Project Aims to Improve Adaptability of Reusable Software Components.
Business Wire; 10/22/2001
Free Article Longford Town lose out to Limerick.
Newspaper article from: Longford Leader (Longford, Republic of Ireland); 4/3/2008

Facts and information from other sites

Related topics

  Edit this list

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

LIMERICKS MISCHIEVOUS FIVE-LINE STANZAS THAT RETAIN PIQUANCY AND PUNCH.(LOCAL)
Newspaper article from: The Virginian Pilot; 6/10/1998; 700+ words ; ...The raunchiest limerick can be redeemed...without wit, a limerick is, by definition...forgettable. Limericks are on my mind...appeared, lots of limericks were unprintable...France of The Limerick, containing...
Limerick storm to glory after thriller.(SPORT)
Magazine article from: Irish Independent (Dublin, Republic of Ireland); 6/25/2007; 700+ words ; ...of the epic hurling sagas which took Limerick and Tipperary through so many twists...admirable merit but, in the end, it was Limerick who did that little bit more to earn...counties since 1934. Nobody can question Limerick's right to be there as they displayed...
Limerick leave it late for final surge.(Sport)
Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England); 3/30/1998; ; 700+ words ; Limerick 1-10 Galway 1-9 THE UNERRING accuracy of wing-forward Mike Galligan steered Limerick to a hard earned victory in this Division...Galligan hit the target eight times for a Limerick side which had to hang on desperately...
LIMERICK RISES FROM THE 'ASHES'
Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe; 1/17/2000; ; 700+ words ; LIMERICK, Ireland - Finally, there is something...movie. "Sure, if it rained as much in Limerick as it did in that film poor Frankie McCourt...touched hearts across the world. But in Limerick, the squalor and cruelty that McCourt...
Healthful limericks. (use of limericks in health education) (Teaching Techniques)
Magazine article from: Journal of School Health; 11/1/1991; ; 700+ words ; ...a few choice limericks to get the students...construction of a limerick, the class selects...in creating a limerick that is written...is to create limericks--"the working...pairs to write a limerick or two of their own. Limericks are shared at...
Caution: Limericks can be addictive
Newspaper article from: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; 2/17/2002; ; 700+ words ; ...Well, almost; limerick- lover Jim McWilliam...than 58,000. Limericks have been written...Though the origin of limericks is as misty as Eire...Britain, the word limerick is so hard to rhyme...nicest thing about a limerick is it's short...delivered his own limericks in front of ...
Limerick's faith in romance is now surely absolute.(SPORT)
Magazine article from: Irish Independent (Dublin, Republic of Ireland); 6/25/2007; 700+ words ; ...became a battle against gravity almost. Limerick and Tipperary just slugging it out on...they kicked the habit of each other, Limerick winning their first Munster championship...class towards the qualifiers. And Limerick? Limerick's faith in romance is surely...
LIMERICK LOSE THE POT; Title slips away as Cork show true spirit.(Sport)
Newspaper article from: The Daily Mail (London, England); 7/6/2009; 700+ words ; ...reports from Pairc Ui Chaoimh Cork 2-6 Limerick 0-11 WHEN their heads are grey and...missed to haunt the last days of these Limerick footballers. This was a chance to check...lanced his shot beyond Sean Kiely in the Limerick goal and the net danced, just as the...
The 'greening' of Limerick.(SPORT)
Magazine article from: Irish Independent (Dublin, Republic of Ireland); 7/7/2007; 700+ words ; ...BREHENY ALL it took was one win to turn Limerick from red to green again. The red of...item. It totally eclipsed the green of Limerick hurling as much of their media coverage...21 three-in-a-row side? The Limerick of the past five years was nowhere to...
Dublin, Grasmere, Haworth ... Limerick
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 8/12/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...humorous memoir of squalor in the slums of Limerick, Angela's Ashes. The winner of this...family's return to his mother's native Limerick when Frank is four. The boy is one of...Eugene and Oliver met their deaths in Limerick. Poverty and sickness are ever-present...

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

See more pictures of limerick

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Current limerick News: