limbo en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈlɪmboː/ (Caribbean)
- /ˈlɪmboʊ/ (General-American)
- /ˈlɪmbəʊ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English limbo, lymbo (“place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven”), from Latin limbō, the ablative singular of limbus (“border, edge; hem; fringe, tassel”) (notably in expressions like in limbō (“in limbo”) and e limbō (“out of limbo”)); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *lemb- (“to hang limply or loosely”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang down loosely (?)”). Doublet of limp. The verb is derived from the noun.
Meanings
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(uncountable) A speculative place or state, thought possibly to be on the edge of the bottomless pit of Hell, where the souls of innocent deceased people might exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, specifically those of the saints who died before the advent of Jesus Christ (who occupy the limbo patrum or limbo of the patriarchs or fathers) and those of unbaptized infants (who occupy the limbo infantum or limbo of the infants); (countable) the possible place where each category of souls might exist, regarded separately.
And they who have multiplied hells unto us, and made more hells than God hath made, more by their two limboes, (one for fathers, another for children) and one purgatory, have yet made their new hells more of the nature of heaven than of hell.
1626 November 15 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), John Donne, “The Third of My Prebend Sermons upon My Five Psalms. Sermon LXVII. Preached at St. Paul’s, November 5, 1626.”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume III, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 183:VVith all my hart, fare-vvell, far-vvell, / I am freed from Lymbo to be ſent to hell.
1605, [Thomas Heywood], If You Know Not Me, You Know No Bodie: Or, The Troubles of Queene Elizabeth, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot] for Nathaniel Butter, →OCLC, signature [D4], recto:Limbo, or more exactly the notion of two different limbos within Christendom, was also an invention. Many medieval Christians had difficulty accepting the idea of eternal punishment meted out to two categories of persons who, on strictly technical grounds, were "outside" the Church and otherwise quite beyond the pale. The first category embraced wise and just people who died before the coming of Christ, and the second included all infants born within Christendom but, unfortunately, unbaptized at the time of their death.
1992, William R. LaFleur, “Jizō at the Crosswords”, in Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, part 1 (Original Concepts), page 57:Of vvhat texte thou proveſt hell / vvill a nother prove purgatory / a nother lymbo patrum / and a nother the aſſumpcion of oure ladi: And a nother ſhall prove of the ſame texte that an Ape hath a tayle.
1528 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), William Tyndale, “William Tyndale other wise Called William Hychins vnto the Reader”, in The Obediẽce of a Christen Man […], [Antwerp]: [Johannes Hoochstraten], →OCLC, folio xix, recto:Oh vvhat a ſimpathie of vvoe is this, / As farre from helpe, as Lymbo is from bliſſe.
c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], signature F, recto:
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(broadly, countable, uncountable) Chiefly preceded by in: any in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion which results in deadlock, delay, or some other unresolved status.
As yet my books are lying as ghost books, in a limbo on the banks of a certain Bristolian Styx, humanly speaking, a Canal; […]
1839 June 15 (date written), John Sterling, “Clifton”, in Thomas Carlyle, The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1851, →OCLC, part II, page 241:Homœpathy, so-called, is an unutterable humbug, and is to be consigned to the eternal Limbos of the Unblessed—where, indeed, it is already for the most part gone.
1881 April 23, “Lord Beaconsfield and Homœpathy”, in George F[rederick] Shrady [Sr.], editor, The Medical Record: A Weekly Journal of Medicine and Surgery, volume 19, New York, N.Y.: William Wood & Co. […], →OCLC, page 466, column 1:[…] [John] Milton has interwoven in the texture of his fable, some particulars which do not seem to have probability enough for an epic poem, particularly in the actions which he ascribes to Sin and Death, and the picture he draws of the ‘Limbo of Vanity,’ with other passages in the second book.
1712 February 19 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “FRIDAY, February 9, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 297; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 481:[T]hat myſterious iniquity provokt and troubl'd at the firſt entrance of Reformation, ſought out nevv limbo's and nevv hells vvherein they might include our Booke alſo vvithin the number of their damned.
1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 9:My passport application has been stuck in bureaucratic limbo for two weeks.
[U]rged beyond that line where the soul is mistress over herself, he lost himself in those delicious limboes, which the vulgar call so foolishly "the imaginary regions."
1896, Honoré de Balzac, translated by Ernest Dowson, La Fille aux Yeux d’Or [The Girl with the Golden Eyes], London: Leonard Smithers […], →OCLC, page 95:His [Thomas De Witt Talmage's] so-called "sermons" are but fragmentary and usually ignorant allusions to things in general. He seldom or never encroaches upon the realms of science and philosophy, although he frequently attempts it, and evidently imagines that he is succeeding admirably, when he is but sloshing around, like a drunken comet that is chiefly tail, in inane limboes.
a. 1899 (date written), William Cowper Brann, “Talmage the Turgid”, in The Complete Works of Brann the Iconoclast, volume I, New York, N.Y.: The Brann Publishers, published 1919, page 200:Proceeding further, I am met vvith a vvhole ging of vvords and phraſes not mine, for he hath maim'd them, and like a ſlye depraver mangl'd them in this his vvicked Limbo, vvorſe then the ghoſt of Deiphobus appear'd to his friend Æneas.
1642 April, John Milton, An Apology for Smectymnuus; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 178:But the railway is in limbo, paralysed by indecision. Let's have some clarity.
2021 May 5, Philip Haigh, “I Think We Need Better than This from the Rail Industry”, in Rail, number 930, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 51:The bigger worry for the Mail is that, if any of the claims are successful, it could open the door for other cases against the newspaper that could leave it in legal limbo for years.
2022 October 7, Jim Waterson, “Legal action by Doreen Lawrence and Prince Harry could mire Daily Mail for years”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2023:[T]hen might ye ſee / […] / Indulgences, Diſpenſes, Pardons, Bulls, / The ſport of Winds: all theſe upwhirld aloft / Fly o're the backſide of the World farr off / Into a Limbo large and broad, ſince calld / The Paradiſe of Fools, […]
1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 489 and 492–496:Society sails through the Infinitude on Cloth, as on a Faust's Mantle, or rather like the Sheet of clean and unclean beasts in the Apostle's Dream; and without such Sheet or Mantle, would sink to endless depths, or mount to inane limboes, and in either case be no more.
1831, Thomas Carlyle, “The World out of Clothes”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 34:Like unbaptized children and the non-Christian righteous, black feminisms have been relegated to an outer realm where, while not exactly punished for their sins, they are ghettoized for an alleged poor timing and inability to encounter the "larger paradigms" undergirding existence. Women from oppressed peoples routinely find themselves in liberation limbos.
1997, Joy Ann James, “Black Feminism: Liberation Limbos and Existence in Gray”, in Lewis R[icardo] Gordon, editor, Existence in Black: An Anthology of Black Existential Philosophy, New York, N.Y.; London: Routledge, →ISBN, part IV (Black Existence and Black Liberation), page 216:It is hard to place thoſe ſoules in Hell vvhoſe vvorthy lives doe teach us vertue on earth; methinks amongſt thoſe many ſubdiviſions of hel, there might have been one Limbo left for theſe: […]
1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “The First Part”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, →OCLC, section 54, page 115:
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(archaic, broadly, slang, uncountable) Jail, prison; (countable) a jail cell or lockup.
Blind Thaddeus O'Gorman was soon sent to limbo, safely secured in the police lock-up at Green Skipperton, whence he was removed next day to the nearest gaol, there to await trial at the next assize.
1894, Arthur [George Frederick] Griffiths, “Commonplace Criminals”, in Secrets of the Prison-house: Or Gaol Studies and Sketches […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, page 144:Abbot Samson […] hurls out a bolt or two of excommunication: lo, one disobedient Monk sits in limbo, excommunicated, with foot-shackles on him, all day; and three more our Abbot has gyved 'with the lesser sentence, to strike fear into the others!'
1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “The Abbot’s Troubles”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk), page 100:Patr[ick]. […] [S]hame burn my cheek! My maſter, d'ye ſee, had gotten into the limboes; […] / Major C[amden]. But vvhat do you mean by your maſter's being in the limboes, Patrick? / Patr. VVhy, Maſter Tipſtaff here—Isn't it Tipſtaff ye call him?—kidnapped him; that's all, Honey.
1796 February, Constantia [pseudonym; Judith Sargent Murray], “The Traveller Returned, Concluded”, in The Gleaner. A Miscellaneous Production. […], volume III, number LXXXIV, Boston, Mass.: […] I[saiah] Thomas and E[benezer] T. Andrews, […], →OCLC, act IV, scene iii, page 156:Adr[iana]. VVhere is thy Maſter Dromio? Is he vvell? / S. Dro. [Dromio of Syracuse] No, he's in Tartar limbo, vvorſe then hell: […] / S. Dro. I doe not knovv the matter, hee is reſted [i.e., arrested] on the caſe. / Adr. VVhat is he arreſted? tell me at vvhoſe ſuite?
c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 94, column 1:[O]n she went, / To find the Knight in Limbo pent: / And 'twas not long before she found / Him, and his stout Squire in the Pound; / Both coupled in Inchanted Tether, / By further Leg behind together: […]
1663 (indicated as 1664), [Samuel Butler], “The Second Part of Hudibras. Canto I.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 108:The room was half full: there were, […] poets not yet in limbo; authors who were still able to pay for their lodgings; young fellows whose creditors were still forbearing; […]
1881, Walter Besant, James Rice, “How the Doctor was at Home to His Friends”, in The Chaplain of the Fleet […], volume I, London: Chatto and Windus, […], →OCLC, part I (Within the Rules), page 217:Theſe are the youths that thunder at a Playhouſe, and fight for bitten Apples, that no Audience but the tribulation of Tovver Hill, or the Limbes of Limehouſe, their deare Brothers are able to endure. I haue ſome of 'em in Limbo Patrum, and there they are like to dance theſe three dayes; beſides the running Banquet of tvvo Beadles, that is to come.
1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 231, column 1:
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(broadly, obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of Hades or Hell.
Nor quite of future Povv'r himſelf bereft, / But Limbo's large for Unbelievers left.
1682, [Nahum Tate; John Dryden], The Second Part of Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 4:
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(broadly, obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of pawn (“the state of something being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge”).
[…] I let him have all my ready Mony to redeem his great Svvord from Limbo— […]
1693, Will[iam] Congreve, The Old Batchelour, a Comedy. […], London: […] Peter Buck, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 11:
- (countable) A type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| limboes | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| Limbo | alternative | lexicographic | |
| limbos | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
limboid · development limbo · limbo skating · limboer · limbolike · limbo set
Relateds
purgatory · valley of death · paradise · hell
Synonyms
Translations (47)
nl voorgeborchte (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · pl próżnia (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · ja 辺土 (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · ru подве́шенное состоя́ние (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · es limbo (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · cmn 邊獄 /边狱 (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · ja 辺獄 (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · mk пре́дворје на пе́колот (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · hu köztes állapot/helyzet (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · hu limbus (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · cy limbo (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · nl limbus (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · fr limbes (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · fi välitila (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · cmn 靈薄獄 /灵薄狱 (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · fr limbes (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · de Limbus (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · nl limbo (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · ru лимб (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · cs nejistota (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · hu bizonytalanság (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · fi limbus (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · pt limbo (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · de Schwebezustand (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · hy քավարան (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · nl limbo (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · hu a pokol tornáca (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · it limbo (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · pt limbo (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · ca llimbs (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · pl otchłań (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · cs předpeklí (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · ru лимб (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · ja リンボー (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · es limbo (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · enm lymbo (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · sk predpeklie (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · sk limbus (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · ja リンボ (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · fi Limbo (type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels) · ca llimbs (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · enm limbus (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · bg преддверие на ада (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · fi paitsio (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · cs nevyjasněná situace (in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion) · de Vorhölle (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven) · ko 림보 (place where the souls of innocent deceased people exist temporarily until they can enter heaven)
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