"circumscribed within definite limits," c. 1600, past-participle adjective from limit (v.). The word was used earlier in a now-obsolete sense "appointed, fixed" (1550s). Limited edition is from 1869; limited monarchy from 1640s; limited war is from 1947. As a noun in railroading, 1878, short for limited express train (1875). In British company names, Limited (abbrev. Ltd.), 1855, is short for limited company, one formed under a law limiting the liability of the members for debts or obligations incurred by the company to a specific amount, usually the amount of their capital investment.
also Woolworth's, often in reference to inexpensive merchandise, from the F.W. Woolworth & Company chain of "five-and-ten-cent stores," begun 1879 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
proper name of a coffee substitute, 1895, from a Latinized form of the name of American manufactured foods pioneer Charles William Post (1854-1914), founder of the breakfast cereal company.
shortening of faggot (n.2) "male homosexual," by 1921. Fag hag "heterosexual woman who keeps company with gay men" attested by 1969.
1924, proprietary name, registered by Cellucotton Products Company, Neenah, Wisconsin, U.S.; later Kimberly-Clark Corp. An arbitrary alteration of clean + brand-name suffix -ex.
1828, septett, "musical work for seven voices or instruments," from German Septett, from Latin septem "seven" (see seven). The meaning "company or group of seven" is attested by 1886.
