ProbableNamed from the place
limerick
noun · first attested 19th century
The verse form is named for an Irish city, for reasons no one has pinned down.
A five-line comic verse rhyming AABBA.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- ProbableThe conventional story is likely, with caveats.
- Attested
- 19th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Limerick
- In English
limerick
The connection to Limerick is not documented. Suggestions include a song refrain naming the city, but the form was popular before the name attached to it.
Ireland
All 10 entries 9 more words from Ireland
donnybrookA free-for-all is named after a Dublin suburb's fair.DonnybrookulsterThe overcoat is named for a province of Ireland.UlsterbalbrigganThe knitted cotton is named for a town north of Dublin.BalbrigganmuensterThe cheese is named for an Alsatian valley town.MunsterblarneySmooth talk is named for a village in County Cork.BlarneyAran jumperThe "ancient clan patterns" are a 20th-century marketing invention.Aran IslandsIrish setterThe solid red coat is a Victorian fashion; the original dog was red and white.IrelandIrish wolfhoundThe breed outlived its job: the last wolf in Ireland was killed around 1786.Ireland