Limit

n. [Lat. limes, limitis, Pr. limit, Pr., Sp., Pg., & It. limite.]

1. That which terminates, circumscribes, restrains, or confines; the bound, border, or edge; as, the limit of a walk, of a town, of a country; the limits of human knowledge.
2. (Logic & Metaph.) A determining feature; a distinguishing characteristic; a differentia.
3. (Math.) A determinate quantity, to which a variable one continually approaches, and may come nearer to it than by any given difference, but can never go beyond it.
4. A limb, as the termination of the body. [Obs.] “Strength of limits.” Shak.

Prison limits, or, simply, limits, a definite extent of space in or around a prison, within which a prisoner has liberty to go and come. Syn.—Boundary; border; edge; termination; restraint.—LIMIT, BOUNDARY. A limit is a prescribed termination; a boundary is something which binds or hems us in. The former arises from the nature of the case, or from some established restriction: thus we speak of the limits of the human understanding; a limited monarchy, &c. The latter is a line, either real or imaginary, which circumscribes and restrains; as, the boundaries of an empire, of knowledge, &c. “Providence,” says Johnson, “has fixed the limits of human enjoyment by immovable boundaries.” But still his native country lies Beyond the boundaries of the skies. Cotton. Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen, who survey The rich man’s joys increase, the poor’s decay, ’Tis yours to judge how wide the limits stand Between a splendid and a happy land. Goldsmith.