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Definitions: Limbo |
LimboNoun1. The state of being disregarded or forgotten. 2. An imaginary place for lost or neglected things. 3. (theology) the abode of infants who die before baptism. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "limbo" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Literature | Limbo A waste-basket; a place where things are stowed, too good to destroy but not good enough to use. In School theology unbaptised infants and good heathens go to Limbo. (Latin, limbus, the edge.) They cannot go to heaven, because they are not baptised, and they cannot go to the place of torment, because they have not committed sin at all, or because their good preponderates. (See Milton: Paradise Lost, bk. iii.) (See Araf.) In limbo. Go to limbo - that is, prison. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Slang in 1811 | LIMBO. A prison, confinement. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The root meaning of limbo is "boundary". While "limbo" is often popularly understood to be a "place where souls go", the term also describes and reflects theological uncertainty. As such, limbo is not part of the Church's official doctrine (compare purgatory, which is). Official Church teaching remains that the status of these souls (who don't seem to deserve hell, yet cannot follow the divinely-revealed path to heaven) is in limbo -- in other words, their fate cannot be determined.
The Limbo of the Fathers (limbus patrum)
Several Biblical passages support the belief that people who lived good lives but died before the Resurrection did not go to heaven, but rather had to wait for Christ to open the gates of heaven. Jesus told the "good thief" that the two of them would be together "this day" in "paradise," (Luke 23:43) but between the Resurrection and the Ascension, Jesus told his followers that he has "not yet ascended to the Father" (John 20:17). He is also described as preaching to "the spirits in prison" (1 Pet 3:19). Medieval drama sometimes portrayed Christ leading a dramatic assault -- The Harrowing of Hell -- during the three days between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection; this assault was presented as freeing the souls of the just, and escorting them triumphantly into heaven. This imagery is still used in the Eastern Orthodox Church's Holy Saturday liturgy (between Good Friday and Pascha).
The Limbo of Children (limbus infantium)
The fate of unbaptized children, such as the Holy Innocents (the male infants slaughtered by Herod in his attempt to destroy the Jewish Messiah), offers a thornier issue.
The foundational importance of the sacrament of baptism (either the ritual baptism by water or the personal baptism by desire) in Catholic theology gives rise to the argument that the unbaptised are not eligible for entry into heaven, because the original sin of human nature precludes the unbaptized from the pure beatific vision enjoyed by the souls in paradise.
Since infants are incapable of either professing their faith or performing acts of Christian charity, babies rely upon their parents (or other caregivers) to bring them up in the faith. If, for whatever reason, an infant dies unbaptized (see infant baptism,) many eminent theologians have argued that a merciful and just God would not condemn infants to the torments of hell.
Limbo as a State of Eternal, Natural Joy
If heaven is a state of happiness and a union with God, and hell is a state of torture and a separation from God, then (many eminent Catholic theologians have speculated) limbo is a neutral state, in which souls are denied the beatific vision, but saved from the torment of hell. Saint Thomas Aquinas described the limbo of children as an eternal state of natural joy, untempered by any sense of loss at how much greater their joy might have been -- a supernatural joy -- had they been baptized.
These same speculations often extend to encompass God's salvific plans for the mentally handicapped, children younger than the age of reason, and the unborn. Catholic theologians have speculated that a just and merciful god may, in some mysterious way incomprehensible to human minds, give these souls the chance to accept or reject's God's grace, and thereby earn themselves a place in heaven or hell.
Limbo is also a novelty dance that originated on the island of Trinidad, where the dancer moves to a Caribbean rhythm, then leans backward and dances under a horizontal stick without touching it. When several dancers compete, the stick is constantly lowered until only one dancer is left who has not touched the stick or the floor.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Limbo."
Synonym: LimboSynonym: oblivion (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Hell | Purgatory, limbo, gehenna, abyss. |
Pain | Adjective: in pain, in a state of pain, full of pain; Noun: suffering; Verb: pained, afflicted, worried, displeased; aching, griped, sore; (physical pain); on the rack, in limbo; between hawk and buzzard. |
Prison | Noun: prison, prison house; jail, gaol, cage, coop, den, cell; stronghold, fortress, keep, donjon, dungeon, Bastille, oubliette, bridewell, house of correction, hulks, tollbooth, panopticon, penitentiary, guardroom, lockup, hold; round house, watch house, station house, sponging house; station; house of detention, black hole, pen, fold, pound; inclosure; isolation (exclusion); penal settlement, penal colony; bilboes, stocks, limbo, quod; calaboose, chauki, choky, thana; workhouse. |
Prisoner | Adjective: imprisoned; in prison, in quod, in durance vile, in limbo, in custody, doing time, in charge, in chains; under lock and key, under hatches; on parole. |
Restraint | Confinement; durance, duress; imprisonment; incarceration, coarctation, entombment, mancipation, durance vile, limbo, captivity; blockade. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Limbo |
| English words defined with "limbo": fool's paradise. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "limbo": LIMBO, Limbus Fatuorum, Limbus of the Moon, Limbus Patrum ♦ Nine Days' Wonder ♦ Satan's Journey to Earth. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Limbo" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. French (limbo), German (limbo), Italian (limbo), Manx (limbo), Portuguese (laminar, limb, limbo), Spanish (limbo), Swedish (limbo). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'm in the junky limbo at the moment. (Trainspotting; writing credit: John Hodge. Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh.) Moon Star of Limbo, give me the might, the muscle, the menace of Moon Star! (Silverhawks; writing credit: Dennis Potter) I was murdered, an unnatural death, and now I walk the earth in limbo until the werewolf's curse is lifted. (American Werewolf in London, An; writing credit: John Landis) | |
Lyrics | Every Limbo boy and girl (Limbo Rock/Hand Jive; performing artist: Brave Combo) You slide it to the limbo (HARLEM SHUFFLE; performing artist: Rolling Stones) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Limbo Line (1968) Il Limbo (1967) Limbo (1999) The Biology of Limbo (1995) Love in Limbo (1993) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | A foetus world in limbo, what a wonderful profile! |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Children | Israel and the occupied territories | Children born in the country of legal foreign workers are entitled to health and education benefits until the age of 18. Children of parents who are in the country illegally live in social limbo, occasionally without access to education. (references) |
Civil Liberties | Poland | Refugee rights groups have consistently complained about applicants living in legal limbo, unable to work legally, while awaiting decisions on their cases. (references) |
Economic History | Indonesia | Indonesia's three-year, $5 billion IMF program fell into limbo in December 2000 after the GOI and IMF were unable to complete the program's third review. (references) |
Minorities | Israel and the occupied territories | Eight villages have been recognized officially since 1994, but nearly 100 more, of varying size and with a total population of nearly 70,000 persons, remain in limbo. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Limbo" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Limbo" is used about 164 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 164 | 24,408 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "limbo" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Limbo | Last name | 170 | 43,098 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expression using "limbo": in limbo. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "limbo": limbo-land, limbo-line. | |
Ending with "limbo": gumbo-limbo. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
limbo | 308 | kylie limbo | 5 |
limbo music | 33 | limbo mp3 rock | 5 |
limbo rock | 31 | limbo contest | 5 |
limbo song | 29 | limbo set | 4 |
limbo dance | 28 | limbo rule | 4 |
gumbo limbo | 22 | savage in limbo | 4 |
kit limbo | 22 | limbo pole | 4 |
limbo game | 21 | download limbo rock | 4 |
stick limbo | 16 | limbo lyrics rock | 4 |
gumbo limbo tree | 11 | boston limbo | 4 |
rush limbo | 9 | chicken limbo | 4 |
slakes limbo | 9 | bamboo kit limbo | 3 |
limbo nude | 8 | sitting in limbo | 3 |
limbo lounge | 7 | limbo movie | 3 |
elmo limbo | 6 | limbo party | 3 |
dancing limbo | 6 | boat limbo | 3 |
leg limbo | 6 | dansen limbo | 3 |
johnny limbo lugnuts | 6 | download limbo music | 3 |
limbo picture | 5 | checker chubby limbo rock | 2 |
gumbo limbo nature center | 5 | dance limbo music | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "limbo"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | limb, vendi i të harruarve, harresë (forgetfulness, obliteration, oblivion, rasure, silence), burg (cage, calaboose, can, choky, clink, gaol, jail, lockup, mill, Nick, pen, penitentiary, poky, prison, prison house, quod, stir), braktisje (abandonment, apostasy, dereliction, desertion, neglect). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | فراغ قانوني, موطن إهمال, نسيان (forgetfulness, oblivion, obliviousness, omission, slip), لا يقين, جهنم (abyss, gehenna, hell, hellfire, inferno, perdition), اليمبوس دهليز في جهنم, إهمال (default, delinquency, dereliction, disregard, easiness, forgetfulness, fribble, frowst, inadvertence, inadvertency, inattention, inattentiveness, malpractice, neglect, negligence, omission, overlooking, remissive, remissness, slovenliness), رقص (choreography, dance, dancing, dandle, foot, frisk, hop, perform, trip), ردهة (anteroom, foyer, hall, lobby, lounge, parlor, parlour, vestibule). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | склад за непотребни вещи, място за непотребни вещи, затвор (bastille, bondage, calaboose, can, choky, clink, confinement, duress, gaol, hold, jail, jug, kitty, lock, lockup, mew, pen, penitentiary, pokey, pound, prison, prison house, quod, shop, shut off, shutter, shuttle, stockade, stopper), забрава (forgetfulness, oblivion, obliviousness, silence), преддверие на ада. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 柔软 (Downy, Ductile, supple, suppleness, tenderness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | zapomenutí (oblivion, obliviousness), předpeklí. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | tussendepot (intermediate repository). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | کناردوزخ , برزخ (Isthmus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | limbo, limbes, oubli, dépôt de préarchivage. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Rumpelkammer (junk room). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | προαύλιο τησ κολάσεωσ, τόποσ λησμονημένων ανθρώπων. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | תהום הנשיה, פרוזדור הגהינום, נשיה (forgetfulness, oblivion). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | pokol tornáca, elfeledettség, börtön (can, cells, confine, coop, gaol, hold, hoosegow, jail, jailhouse, jug, lockup, penitentiary, prison, prison house, quad, quod, stir, stockade). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | limbo. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 賽の河原 (The Children`s Limbo), リンパ浮腫 (limbo dance, lymphedema). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | リンボーダンス (limbo dance), さいのかわら (The Children`s Limbo). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | limbo. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | imbolay limbo (laminar, limb), prisão (accouchement, apprehension, arrest, bastille, bond, cage, captivity, choky, confinement, constrained, custody, detention, during, entente, ex, gaol, improbability, jail, jug, noose, pokey, prison, quad, quod), flexibilidade (ductility, flexible, flexibly, pliability, pliancy), esquecimento (failure rate, forget me not, lethean, neglect, oblivion, omission, ostracize), encarceramento (commitment, committal, incarceration). (various references) zdup (bang, bump, flop, jug, Nick, quod, smash, thud, thump), uitare (forgetfulness, forgetting, forgiveness, forgiving, obliteration, oblivion), rãcoare (chill, cold, cool, coolness, freshness, jug, quod, shade, shiver, shudder), pragul iadului, depozit de vechituri. (various references) заточение (immurement), лимб (limb, radius), преддверие ада. (various references) zaborav (oblivion), predvorje pakla, muka (anguish, annoyance, nausea, need, qualm, queasiness, torment). (various references) limbo (blade, lamina, leaf blade, limb, web). (various references) limbo, fängelse (bagnio, calaboose, can, clink, gaol, hold, imprisonment, jail, jailhouse, jug, Nick, pen, penitentiary, prison, prison house), övergångsstadium. (various references) สถานที่ที่ถูกลืม, การเต้นระบำลอดไม้ขวาง. (various references) zindan (bagnio, dungeon, oubliette), muallak (suspense), cehennemin sınırındaki yer, belirsizlik (ambiguity, dark, doubtfulness, dreaminess, dreariness, drift, dubiousness, equivocalness, fogginess, fuzziness, generality, gloom, haze, haziness, if, incalculability, indefiniteness, indistinctness, laxity, laxness, suspense, troubled waters, twilight world, twilight zone, uncertainty, vagueness). (various references) в'язниця (bandhouse, cage, calaboose, can, choky, clink, dump, gaol, jail, penitentiary, pound, prison, quod, slammer, ward), забуття (condonation, effacement, forgetfulness, neglect, obliteration, oblivion, obliviousness, silence), переддвер'я пекла. (various references) sự tù tội sự quên lãng, sự bỏ quên (omission), ngục, minh phủ nhà tù, chốn u minh. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "limbo": limbos. (additional references) | |
| |
"Limbo" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: bimboy, dimbo, Himba, Imvo, iqbo, Kimbo, Klymko, lamba, lambe, lambo, lemba, Lemmo, libo, Liboi, libro, lidba, limba, limbe, limbey, limbus, limby, limou, limpo, Linhof, Liuba, Lomba, Lombe, lumb, Lumbi, Lumbo, Lyubov, Piambo. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "limbo" (pronounced li"mbō) |
| 4 | -i" m b ō | bimbo. |
| 3 | -m b ō | gumbo, jumbo, Mambo, Sambo. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-i-l-m-o" | |
-1 letter: boil, limb, limo, milo, moil. | |
-2 letters: bio, lib, lob, mib, mil, mob, mol, obi, oil. | |
-3 letters: bi, bo, li, lo, mi, mo, om. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-i-l-m-o" | |
+1 letter: emboli, limbos, mobile. | |
+2 letters: bimodal, embolic, embroil, gumboil, mailbox, mobiles, nombril, obelism. | |
+3 letters: binomial, bioplasm, bloomier, blooming, botulism, bromelin, cimbalom, columbic, comblike, embolies, embolism, embroils, forelimb, gorblimy, gumboils, gumbotil, imbolden, immobile, lambdoid, lobbyism, mailbomb, mislabor, mobilise, mobility, mobilize, molybdic, morbidly, morbilli, nobelium, nombrils, obelisms, olibanum, outclimb, symbolic, tomblike, womblike. | |
+4 letters: abdominal, airmobile, amblyopia, amblyopic, ambrosial, amphibole, amphiboly, anabolism, bimonthly, binomials, biologism, bioplasms, blindworm, bloomiest, botulinum, botulisms, bromelain, bromeliad, bromelins, cimbaloms, cobalamin, columbine, columbite, columbium, coulombic, diabolism, embolisms, embroiled, forelimbs, gamboling, globalism, gumbotils, homebuilt, imboldens, imbroglio, immovable, immovably, libriform, lobbyisms, mailbombs, mailboxes, metabolic, microbial, mislabors, mobilised, mobilises, mobilized, mobilizes, myofibril, myoglobin, nobeliums, nonmobile, olibanums, omissible, outclimbs, ovalbumin, ribosomal, shambolic, skimobile, symboling, symbolise, symbolism, symbolist, symbolize. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4C 69 6D 62 6F |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).-.. .. -- -... --- |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "limbo" |
