Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
lower limit

lower limit

1 3.5
The smallest amount or value that is allowed
  • noun
  • /ˈloʊər ˈlɪmɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : límite inferior
  • The SpppS teams could not find it, but they set a lower limit of 69 GeV on its mass, mt.
  • upper and lower limit
  • lower limit of detection
  • lower limit of normal

I can get my own JWST time, but we know that that is like a lower limit, lower limit, upper limit.

Examples

  • Likewise, a score below the lower limit of the confidence interval indicates a significant decrease in the speech score.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Perhaps a baker's dozen is the lower limit of traded objects.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Some areas have a lower limit of 600.

    Academic text (2000)

  • There is also a lower limit to the Doppler-detectable planet mass.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The lower limit of detection for the study period was 2 g/dL.

    Academic text (2011)

  • There is no lower limit from experiment on the neutrino masses; indeed, they might be zero.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Notice as we chug on that the lower limit to the radius ratio is gradually increasing.

  • Adding vibrato to tones increased the lower limit of the acceptable range by an additional 10 cents.

    Academic text (2015)

  • For this study, 60% of HRM-A was used as the lower limit for measuring vigorous heart rate intensity.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The minimum wage serves as a lower limit on what employees can be paid.

Synonyms

minimum
vslower limit
271 1.6

The smallest amount or number allowed

is broader, also referring to a boundary or limit rather than just a value
floor
vslower limit
  • Specialized
31 5.2

A lowest allowed level for a price or wage

is the general smallest allowed amount without official status
lower bound
vslower limit
  • Specialized
3 7.0

A value that is no larger than any number in a set

is the everyday smallest allowed amount not restricted to mathematics

Antonyms

upper limit
7 3.2

The highest allowed amount or value of something

How Low

minimum
271 1.6
lower limit
  • Specialized
1 3.5
midpoint
  • Specialized
10 3.5
upper limit
7 3.2
maximum
95 2.1

Surface Forms

lower limit singular
lower limits plural

Morphology

lower + limit

The meaning 'the smallest possible or allowed amount' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'lower' (smaller/below) with 'limit' (boundary/allowed amount), yielding the lower boundary or minimum. This compositional pattern is regular in English and common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will understand the MWE.

Etymology

Lower limit comes from a simple picture: imagine a marked line that shows the lowest point you can reach, with lower meaning the bottom and limit meaning the line you must not go past. So, lower limit means the 'smallest allowed amount'.