limbo

lim·bo ¹  (lmb)

n. pl. lim·bos

1. often Limbo Roman Catholic Church The abode of unbaptized but innocent or righteous souls, as those of infants or virtuous individuals who lived before the coming of Christ.

2. A region or condition of oblivion or neglect: Management kept her promotion in limbo for months.

3. A state or place of confinement.

4. An intermediate place or state.

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[Middle English, from Medieval Latin (in) limb, (in) Limbo, ablative of limbus, Limbo, from Latin, border.]

Word History: Our use of the word limbo to refer to states of oblivion, confinement, or transition is derived from the theological sense of Limbo as a place where souls remain that cannot enter heaven, for example, unbaptized infants. Limbo in Roman Catholic theology is located on the border of Hell, which explains the name chosen for it. The Latin word limbus, having meanings such as "an ornamental border to a fringe" and "a band or girdle," was chosen by Christian theologians of the Middle Ages to denote this border region. English borrowed the word limbus directly, but the form that caught on in English, limbo, first recorded in a work composed around 1378, is from the ablative form of limbus, the form that would be used in expressions such as in limb, "in Limbo."

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lim·bo ²  (lmb)

n. pl. lim·bos

A West Indian dance in which the dancers keep bending over backward and passing under a pole that is lowered slightly each time.

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[Probably ultimately of African origin.]

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limbo¹

n pl -bos

1. (Christian Religious Writings / Theology) (often capital) Christianity the supposed abode of infants dying without baptism and the just who died before Christ

2. an imaginary place for lost, forgotten, or unwanted persons or things

3. an unknown intermediate place or condition between two extremes in limbo

4. a prison or confinement

[from Medieval Latin in limbo on the border (of hell)]

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limbo²

n pl -bos

(Performing Arts / Dancing) a Caribbean dance in which dancers pass, while leaning backwards, under a bar

[origin uncertain]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	limbo - the state of being disregarded or forgotten oblivion obscurity - an obscure and unimportant standing; not well known; "he worked in obscurity for many years"
	2.	limbo - an imaginary place for lost or neglected things fictitious place, imaginary place, mythical place - a place that exists only in imagination; a place said to exist in fictional or religious writings
	3.	limbo - (theology) in Roman Catholicism, the place of unbaptized but innocent or righteous souls (such as infants and virtuous individuals) fictitious place, imaginary place, mythical place - a place that exists only in imagination; a place said to exist in fictional or religious writings theology, divinity - the rational and systematic study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truth

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limbo

noun

in limbo in a state of uncertainty, neglected, up in the air, in abeyance, betwixt and between, not knowing whether one is coming or going (informal) I felt as though I was in limbo.

Translations

limbo [ˈlɪmbəʊ] N (Rel) (also Limbo) → limbo m; (= dance) → limbo m
to be in limbo [person] → quedarse nadando entre dos aguas

limbo [ˈlɪmbəʊ] n
to be in limbo (= between two stages) → dans le flou

limbo¹

n

(Rel) → Vorhölle f, → Limbus m (spec)

(fig) → Übergangs- or Zwischenstadium nt; our expansion plans are in limbo because of lack of money → unsere Erweiterungspläne sind wegen Geldmangels in der Schwebe; I’m in a sort of limbo → ich hänge in der Luft (inf)

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limbo²

n (= dance) → Limbo m

limbo [ˈlɪmbəʊ] n (Rel) (also) (fig) → limbo

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limbo [ˈlɪmbəʊ] n (Rel) (also) (fig) → limbo