self-lim·it·ed (s?lf-l?m??-t?d)adj.1. Limited by its or one’s own characteristics rather than by external influences.2. Medicine Running a definite course within a specific period; little modified by treatment. Used of an illness.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.