speed limit

English

Noun

speed limit (plural speed limits)

1. The maximum speed permitted by law for vehicles.

   John is a careful driver. He never exceeds the speed limit.

   Speed limits in the United States are set by each state or territory.

   • 1951 May, R. K. Kirkland, “The Cavan & Leitrim Railway”, in Railway Magazine, pages 343-344:

     Speed limits apply at many points on the line, in addition to the general 25 m.p.h. limit over the whole Dromod-Belturbet section, but it is an open secret that speeds often rise above the statutory limit.

   • 1979, AC/DC, Highway to Hell:

     No stop signs, speed limit
     Nobody's gonna slow me down

   • 2020 September 23, Paul Bigland, “The tragic tale of the Tay Bridge disaster”, in Rail, page 81:

     A number of Dundee businessmen commuted across the bridge from their homes in Wormit, and some became concerned at the speeds that trains were crossing the bridge. Ex-Dundee Provost William Robertson timed one train at 43mph, way in excess of the 25mph speed limit.

   • December 23, 2021, ETSC, New legislation will boost availability of digital speed limit information

     In a proposed legislative update to EU rules on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), the European Commission says EU Member States will have to supply data on speed limits. The data will then be available for use by in-vehicle safety systems such as Intelligent Speed Assistance, helping to ensure more accurate information.

Related terms

• speed trap

Translations

maximum speed permitted

• Arabic: حَدّ اَلسُّرْعَة اَلْأُقْصَى m (ḥadd as-surʕa l-ʔuqṣā), حَدّ اَلسُّرْعَة m (ḥadd as-surʕa)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܣܵܘܦܵܐ ܕܩܲܠܝܼܠܘܼܬܵܐ m (sāwpā d-qalīlutā)
• Bulgarian: ограниче́ние на ско́ростта f (ograničénie na skórostta)
• Catalan: límit de velocitat m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 速度限制 (cuk¹ dou⁶ haan⁶ zai³)

  Mandarin: 速度限制 (sùdù xiànzhì)

• Czech: omezení rychlosti n, rychlostní limit
• Danish: hastighedsbegrænsning
• Dutch: snelheidsbeperking (nl) f, snelheidsbegrenzing f
• Estonian: kiirusepiirang, kiiruspiirang
• Finnish: nopeusrajoitus (fi)
• French: vitesse maximale autorisée f
• German: Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung (de) f, Tempolimit (de) n, Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkung (de) f
• Greek: : όριο ταχύτητος n (ório tachýtitos)
• Hungarian: sebességkorlátozás (hu), megengedett (legnagyobb) sebesség, (non-technical) sebességkorlát, sebességhatár (hu)
• Icelandic: hraðamörk n pl
• Indonesian: batas kecepatan
• Irish: luasteorainn f, teorainn luais f
• Italian: limite di velocità m
• Japanese: 制限速度 (せいげんそくど, seigen sokudo)
• Khmer: កំរិតល្បឿន (kɑmrət lbɨǝn)
• Korean: 속도 제한 (sokdo jehan)
• Latvian: ātruma ierobežojums m
• Malay: had laju (ms)
• Maori: tepetere
• Navajo: oolwoł bee hazʼání
• Norman: lînmite dé vitesse f, lînmite dg'ièrre f
• Polish: ograniczenie prędkości n
• Portuguese: limite de velocidade m
• Romanian: limită de viteză f
• Russian: ограниче́ние ско́рости f (ograničénije skórosti)
• Spanish: límite de velocidad m
• Swedish: hastighetsbegränsning (sv)
• Tagalog: takdang tulin
• Telugu: వేగ పరిమితి (vēga parimiti)
• Turkish: hız sınırı
• Ukrainian: обме́ження шви́дкості n (obméžennja švýdkosti)
• Vietnamese: tốc độ tối đa (literally “maximum speed”), giới hạn tốc độ
• Welsh: cyfyngiad cyflymder m

Further reading

• “speed limit”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “speed limit”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “speed limit”, in Oxford Learner's Dictionaries