limbus
μή, φίλα ψυχά, βίον ἀθάνατον σπεῦδε, τὰν δ' ἔμπρακτον ἄντλει μαχανάν → Oh! my soul do not aspire to eternal life, but exhaust the limits of the possible. | Do not yearn, O my soul, for immortal life! Use to the utmost the skill that is yours. | Do not, my soul, strive for the life of the immortals, but exhaust the practical means at your disposal.
Latin > English (Lewis & Short)
limbus: i, m.,
I a border that surrounds any thing, a hem, welt, edge, selvage, fringe; a belt, band, girdle.
I Lit.: Sidoniam picto chlamydem circumdata limbo, Verg. A. 4, 137; id. ib. 2, 616 (this the better read., others nimbo): indutus chlamydem Tyriam, quam limbus obibat Aureus, Ov. M. 5, 51; id. ib. 6, 127; 2, 734; Stat. Achill. 1, 330: frontem limbo velata pudicam, with a headband, fillet, Claud. Cons. Mall. Theod. 118; cf.: imminuerent frontes limbis, Arn. 2, 72: picto discingit pectora limbo, with a girdle, belt, Stat. Th. 6, 367.—
II Transf. *
A The zodiac: extra limbum XII. signorum, Varr. R. R. 2, 3, 7; id. ap. Prob. ad Verg. E. 6, 31.—
B A noose, snare, for catching animals, Grat. Cyn. 25.
