Adjacent Words

Limbo definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LIM'BO,
LIM'BUS, n. [L. limbus.]
1. A region bordering on hell, or hell itself.
Among catholics, a place where the souls of persons are lodged after death.
2. A place of restraint.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the state of being disregarded or forgotten [syn: oblivion, limbo]
2: an imaginary place for lost or neglected things
3: (theology) in Roman Catholicism, the place of unbaptized but innocent or righteous souls (such as infants and virtuous individuals)

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural limbos) Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin, ablative of limbus limbo, from Latin, border Date: 14th century 1. often capitalized an abode of souls that are according to Roman Catholic theology barred from heaven because of not having received Christian baptism 2. a. a place or state of restraint or confinement b. a place or state of neglect or oblivion <proposals kept in limbo> c. an intermediate or transitional place or state d. a state of uncertainty II. noun (plural limbos) Etymology: English of Trinidad & Barbados; akin to Jamaican English limba to bend, from English ³limber Date: circa 1950 a dance or contest that involves bending over backwards and passing under a horizontal pole lowered slightly for each successive pass

Britannica Concise

In Roman Catholicism, a region between heaven and hell, the dwelling place of souls not condemned to punishment but deprived of the joy of existence with God in heaven. The concept probably developed in the Middle Ages. Two distinct kinds of limbo were proposed: the limbus patrum ("fathers' limbo"), where Old Testament saints were confined until liberated by Jesus in his "descent into hell"; and the limbus infantum or limbus puerorum ("children's limbo"), the abode of those who died without actual sin but whose original sin had not been washed away by baptism or whose free will was restricted by mental deficiency. Today the Catholic church downplays the notion of limbo, and it is not an official part of church doctrine.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. (pl. -os) 1 (in some Christian beliefs) the supposed abode of the souls of unbaptized infants, and of the just who died before Christ. 2 an intermediate state or condition of awaiting a decision etc. 3 prison, confinement. 4 a state of neglect or oblivion. Etymology: ME f. med.L phr. in limbo, f. limbus: see LIMB(2) 2. n. (pl. -os) a W. Indian dance in which the dancer bends backwards to pass under a horizontal bar which is progressively lowered to a position just above the ground. Etymology: a W. Indian word, perh. = LIMBER(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Limbo Lim"bo (l[i^]m"b[-o]), Limbus Lim"bus (-b[u^]s), n. [L. limbus border, edge, in limbo on the border. Cf. Limb border.] 1. (Scholastic Theol.) An extramundane region where certain classes of souls were supposed to await the judgment. As far from help as Limbo is from bliss. --Shak. A Limbo large and broad, since called The Paradise of fools. --Milton. Note: The limbus patrum was considered as a place for the souls of good men who lived before the coming of our Savior. The limbus infantium was said to be a similar place for the souls of unbaptized infants. To these was added, in the popular belief, the limbus fatuorum, or fool's paradise, regarded as a receptacle of all vanity and nonsense. 2. Hence: Any real or imaginary place of restraint or confinement; a prison; as, to put a man in limbo.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you say that someone or something is in limbo, you mean that they are in a situation where they seem to be caught between two stages and it is unclear what will happen next. The negotiations have been in limbo since mid-December. N-UNCOUNT: usu in/into N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Limbus, place of spirits, place of the departed (awaiting final judgment). 2. Hell, infernal regions, shades below.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A prison, confinement.

Moby Thesaurus

Abaddon, Gehenna, Hades, Naraka, Pandemonium, Sheol, Tophet, avichi, cage, coop, enclosure, hell, in abeyance, infernal regions, inferno, jahannan, lower world, nether world, on the shelf, pen, penfold, perdition, pinfold, place of confinement, place of torment, pound, purgatory, shades below, suspended, the abyss, the bottomless pit, the grave, the pit, treading water, underworld