limbo Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Lim"bo, Lim"bus noun (Also<
  • Limbo
  • Limbus
)
Etymology
L. limbus border, edge in limbo on the border. Cf. Limb border.
Definitions
  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.
    ✍ 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. hence: a state of waiting, or uncertainty, in which final judgment concerning the outcome of a decision is postponed, perhaps indefinitely; neglect for an indefinite time
  3. (Anat.) A border or margin; as, the limbus of the cornea.
  4. A West Indian dance contest, in which participants must dance under a pole which is lowered successively until only one participant can successfully pass under, without falling. Jamaican E limba to bend, fr. E. limber (1950)]. Often performed at celebrations, such as weddings. (1950-1996)

Webster 1913