Wiktionary

limbo

See also: Limbo

English edit

WOTD – 18 May 2023

Pronunciation edit

 
Domenico Beccafumi, Descent into Limbo (c. 1530–1535; etymology 1, noun sense 1).[n 1] It depicts the harrowing of hell in which Jesus Christ (centre, in blue), between his death and resurrection, descends into limbo to free the souls of saints who predeceased him, including the penitent thief (left, with cross (possibly)), Adam (in red), King David (holding sceptre), Eve (right), and John the Baptist (background).

Etymology 1 edit

The noun is derived from Middle English limbo, lymbo (“place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven”),[1] 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”));[2] 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.

Noun edit

limbo (countable and uncountable, plural limbos or limboes)

  2. (Roman Catholicism, uncountable) A speculation, 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. [from 15th c.]
    • 1528 October 12 (Gregorian calendar), Willyam Tyndale [i.e., William Tyndale], “Willyam Tyndale otherwyse Called Willyam Rychius vnto the Reader”, in The Obedience of [a] Christen Man, […], [London: […] Thomas Ranalde and Wyllyam Hyll, and are to be solde […] by Rychard Iugge […]], published [1548], →OCLC, folio xx, recto:
      Of vvhat texte thou proueſt hell, vvyll another proue purgatory, another lymbo patrum, & another the aſſumpcion of our lady: & another ſhall proue of the ſame texte that an Ape hath atayle.
    • 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]:
      Oh vvhat a ſimpathie of vvoe is this, / As farre from helpe, as Lymbo is from bliſſe.
    • 1605, [Thomas Heywood], If You Know Not Me, You Know No Bodie: Or, The Troubles of Queene Elizabeth, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot] for Nathaniel Butter, published 1606, →OCLC, signature D2, recto:
      VVith all our heart, fare-vvell, fare-vvell, / I am freed from Lymbo, to be ſent to hell.
    • 1626 November 15 (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:
      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.
    • 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:
      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.
  3. (by extension)
    1. (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. [from mid 17th c.]
      My passport application has been stuck in bureaucratic limbo for two weeks.
      • 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:
        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 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:
        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.
      • 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:
        [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.
      • 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 489 and 492–496:
        [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, […]
      • 1712 February 20 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SATURDAY, 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:
        […] [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.
        The spelling has been modernized.
      • 1831, Thomas Carlyle, “The World out of Clothes”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book first, page 34:
        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.
      • 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:
        As yet my books are lying as ghost books, in a limbo on the banks of a certain Bristolian Styx, humanly speaking, a Canal; […]
      • 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:
        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.
      • 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:
        [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."
      • 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:
        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.
      • 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:
        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.
      • 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:
        But the railway is in limbo, paralysed by indecision. Let's have some clarity.
      • 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[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-03-14:
        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.
    2. (slang, archaic, uncountable) Jail, prison; (countable) a jail cell or lockup. [from late 16th c.]
      • 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:
        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?
      • 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:
        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.
      • 1663, [Samuel Butler], “The Second Part of Hudibras”, 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: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, canto I, page 108:
        [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: […]
      • 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:
        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.
      • 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:
        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!'
      • 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:
        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; […]
      • 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:
        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.
    3. (uncountable, obsolete) Synonym of Hades or Hell [from late 16th c.]
    4. (uncountable, obsolete) Synonym of pawn (“the state of something being held as security for a loan, or as a pledge”)
  4. (countable, military, nautical, weaponry) A type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels.
Usage notes edit
  • Although "limbo" was at one point a very commonly held belief among grassroots Catholics, it has never been an official part of Church teaching.
Alternative forms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
jail, prison — see jail,‎ prison
jail cell, lockup — see jail cell

See also edit

Verb edit

limbo (third-person singular simple present limbos, present participle limboing, simple past and past participle limboed)

  1. (transitive, rare) To place (someone or something) in an in-between place, or condition or state, of neglect or oblivion which results in deadlock, delay, or some other unresolved status.
    • 1849, Herman Melville, “Wherein Babbalanja Broaches a Diabolical Theory, and, in His Own Person, Proves it”, in Mardi: And a Voyage Thither. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers, […], →OCLC, page 364:
      [A]s your doctrine is exceedingly evil, by Yamjamma's theory it follows, that you must be proportionably bedeviled; and since it harms others, your devil is of the number of those whom it is best to limbo; and since he is one of those that can be limboed, limboed he shall be in you.
    • 1988 October, Jack Womack, chapter 5, in Terraplane […], New York, N.Y.: Grove Press, →ISBN, page 102:
      "If a fellow of ours isn't uncovered we may be limboed here till—" Till when? Till we were born again? I wished not to wonder just then. "Whenever."
    • 1992, Yusef Komunyakaa, “Blackberries”, in Magic City, Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, →ISBN, page 27:
      An hour later, beside City Limits Road / I balanced, a gleaming can in each hand, / Limboed between worlds, repeating one dollar.
Translations edit

Etymology 2 edit

 
A man performing the limbo (etymology 2, noun sense).

Origin uncertain; possibly an alteration of limber (“bendable, flexible, pliant”) with the ending of the word respelled to represent a Caribbean English pronunciation.[3]

It is unclear whether the verb is derived from the noun, or the noun is derived from the verb; the noun is attested slightly earlier.[3][4]

Noun edit

limbo (plural limbos)

  2. (dance, also attributively) A competitive dance originating from Trinidad and Tobago in which dancers take turns to cross under a horizontal bar while bending backwards. The bar is lowered with each round, and the competition is won by the dancer who passes under the bar in the lowest position without dislodging it or falling down.
    • 1962 October, Jan Sheldon [pseudonym; Kal Mann], Billy Strange (lyrics and music), “Limbo Rock”, in Limbo Party, performed by Chubby Checker:
      Every limbo boy and girl / All around the limbo world / Gonna do the limbo rock / All around the limbo clock / Jack be limbo, Jack be quick / Jack go under limbo stick / All around the limbo clock / Hey, let's do the limbo rock
    • 1992, Susan Farewell, “The United States Virgin Islands”, in Alan Tucker, editor, The Berlitz Travellers Guide to the Caribbean 1993, New York, N.Y., Oxford, Oxfordshire: Berlitz Publishing Company, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 140:
      At night steel-band and calypso shows liven up many of the island's larger hotels. If you're not up for watching limbos, bottle dancing, and fire eating, your best bet might be a leisurely dinner before settling down on chaise longues around your hotel's pool with a couple of fruity concoctions.
    • 2016, Linda Parker Hamilton, “Games in the Outdoors”, in Camping Activity Book for Families; The Kid-tested Guide to Fun in the Outdoors, Guilford, Conn., Helena, Mont.: FalconGuides, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 122, column 2:
      Limbo is a traditional popular dance contest that originated on the island of Trinidad. It got its name in the 1950s, but the limbo dates back to the 1800s in Trinidad. […] R&B singer-songwriter Chubby Checker, who popularized the Twist, also popularized the limbo dance and the phrase "How low can you go?" The world record for the lowest limbo dance is only 8.5 inches above the ground!
Translations edit

Verb edit

limbo (third-person singular simple present limbos, present participle limboing, simple past and past participle limboed) (intransitive)

  1. (dance) To dance the limbo (etymology 2, noun sense 1).
    • 1967 November 24, “Miscellany: Stoop to Conquer”, in George P. Hunt, editor, Life, volume 63, number 21, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 124:
      Steve Becker was rolling around with the other skaters at the Pismo Beach, Calif. roller rink one day when it was announced that there would be a limbo contest. […] Steve had his friends set the bar lower and lower while he got flatter and flatter, until finally, at just over a foot and almost spread-eagled, he reached his limboing limit.
      A noun use, applied to passing under a horizontal bar on roller-skates.
    • 1993 May–June, Kathleen Ring, “Coming Attractions”, in Snow Country: The Year-round Magazine of Skiing, Mountain Sports & Living, volume 6, number 3, Trumbull, Conn.: NYT Sports/Leisure Magazines, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68, column 3:
      The race begins at Alyeska Resort with an alpine skiing leg. It then proceeds through a downhill sprint, an in-line skate, a mountain bike ride, a 5K run, a wheelchair obstacle course and, if all that wasn't enough, a three-legged race in which participants chug a beer or soda before limboing under the tape.
    • 2016, Linda Parker Hamilton, “Games in the Outdoors”, in Camping Activity Book for Families; The Kid-tested Guide to Fun in the Outdoors, Guilford, Conn., Helena, Mont.: FalconGuides, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 122:
      After each player goes under once, the bar is lowered about an inch. Players keep limboing under the limbo stick as it gets lower and lower. If you touch the stick with any part of your body, you're out. The last person left is the winner.
    • 2020 January 28, Giselle Renarde, “Limbo Rock (Chubby Checker)”, in Play It on My Radio: A Diary in Music, [Los Gatos, Calif.]: [Smashwords], published 2021, →ISBN, page 171:
      Anyway, one year we had a party in our unfinished basement. All I remember about it is that we limboed on bare concrete. Good times!
  2. (by extension, also figuratively) Often followed by under: to pass under something, especially while bending backwards.
    • 1990 March 26, “Low Motion: Technology Firms Dip, Pivot as Investors Drum Up Profits”, in Bill Laberis, editor, Computerworld: The Newsweekly of Information Systems Management, volume XXIV, number 13, Framingham, Mass.: CW Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7, column 3:
      How low can you go? Technology stocks limboed lower and lower last week as investors danced to the profit-taking beat.
    • 1994, Lois Ruby, “No Nancy Drews”, in Steal Away Home (Aladdin Historical Fiction), New York, N.Y.: Aladdin Paperbacks, published January 1999, →ISBN, page 41:
      Ahn slept over on Friday night, and as soon as the parents were asleep, Dana and Ahn limboed under the criss-cross barriers into the secret chamber.
    • 1995 November, Jeff Rovin with created by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik, “Tuesday, 12:26 A.M., Helsinki”, in Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image (Tom Clancy’s Op-Center), New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN:
      [T]he Private […] limboed to his seat [in a mini-submarine], thrusting his chest up and twisting to the right, one arm behind him, steadying himself on the chair as he slid in.
    • 2011 May 13, David Lochbaum (witness), “Statement of Mr. David Lochbaum, Director, Nuclear Safety Project, Union of Concerned Scientists”, in Nuclear Energy Risk Management: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Joint with the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session […] (Serial No. 122-18), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 199:
      [W]e find that the NRC does a very good job at setting the safety bar at the right height. […] They don't do a very good job of enforcing those regulations. Too many plant owners are limboing beneath the safety bar for too long, putting Americans at higher risk, and additionally driving the costs of nuclear power upwards inexplicably.
    • 2012 September 24, Anthony Linick, “June 2007”, in A Doggy Day in London Town: Life among the Dog People of Paddington Rec, volume IV, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 27:
      Daisy-Mae [a dog] also distinguishes herself by limboing under the picnic ground fence. I have to go back in order to use the gate into this spot, where I can retrieve the little madam.
Translations edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ From the collection of the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, Italy.

References edit

  1. ^ “limbō, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “limbo, n.1”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2023; “limbo1, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 “limbo, n.3”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “limbo2, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  4. ^ “limbo, v.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “limbo2, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Dutch edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈlɪm.boː/
  • Hyphenation: lim‧bo

Etymology 1 edit

From Latin in limbō (“on the edge”).

Proper noun edit

limbo m or n

  1. Limbo, the place where innocent souls barred from heaven exist.
    Synonyms: limbus, voorgeborchte
Alternative forms edit

Noun edit

limbo m (plural limbo's, diminutive limbootje n)

  1. Limbo, in-between place, state or condition of neglect or oblivion which results in an unresolved status, delay or deadlock.
Alternative forms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Word of uncertain West Indian (possibly Jamaican) origin, recorded since 1956, probably an alteration of limber as it is a physical agility test.

Noun edit

limbo n (uncountable)

  1. limbo, the low-dancing game below a bar

Etymology 3 edit

From a clipping of Limburger +‎ -o.

Noun edit

limbo m (plural limbo's, diminutive limbootje n)

  1. (colloquial) A Limburger, a person from Limburg.
Alternative forms edit
See also edit

Finnish edit

Etymology edit

From English limbo.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈlimbo/, [ˈlimbo̞]
  • Rhymes: -imbo
  • Syllabification(key): lim‧bo

Noun edit

limbo

  1. limbo (dance with bar that is lowered)

Declension edit

Inflection of limbo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative limbo limbot
genitive limbon limbojen
partitive limboa limboja
illative limboon limboihin
singular plural
nominative limbo limbot
accusative nom. limbo limbot
gen. limbon
genitive limbon limbojen
partitive limboa limboja
inessive limbossa limboissa
elative limbosta limboista
illative limboon limboihin
adessive limbolla limboilla
ablative limbolta limboilta
allative limbolle limboille
essive limbona limboina
translative limboksi limboiksi
abessive limbotta limboitta
instructive — limboin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of limbo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative limboni limboni
accusative nom. limboni limboni
gen. limboni
genitive limboni limbojeni
partitive limboani limbojani
inessive limbossani limboissani
elative limbostani limboistani
illative limbooni limboihini
adessive limbollani limboillani
ablative limboltani limboiltani
allative limbolleni limboilleni
essive limbonani limboinani
translative limbokseni limboikseni
abessive limbottani limboittani
instructive — —
comitative — limboineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative limbosi limbosi
accusative nom. limbosi limbosi
gen. limbosi
genitive limbosi limbojesi
partitive limboasi limbojasi
inessive limbossasi limboissasi
elative limbostasi limboistasi
illative limboosi limboihisi
adessive limbollasi limboillasi
ablative limboltasi limboiltasi
allative limbollesi limboillesi
essive limbonasi limboinasi
translative limboksesi limboiksesi
abessive limbottasi limboittasi
instructive — —
comitative — limboinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative limbomme limbomme
accusative nom. limbomme limbomme
gen. limbomme
genitive limbomme limbojemme
partitive limboamme limbojamme
inessive limbossamme limboissamme
elative limbostamme limboistamme
illative limboomme limboihimme
adessive limbollamme limboillamme
ablative limboltamme limboiltamme
allative limbollemme limboillemme
essive limbonamme limboinamme
translative limboksemme limboiksemme
abessive limbottamme limboittamme
instructive — —
comitative — limboinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative limbonne limbonne
accusative nom. limbonne limbonne
gen. limbonne
genitive limbonne limbojenne
partitive limboanne limbojanne
inessive limbossanne limboissanne
elative limbostanne limboistanne
illative limboonne limboihinne
adessive limbollanne limboillanne
ablative limboltanne limboiltanne
allative limbollenne limboillenne
essive limbonanne limboinanne
translative limboksenne limboiksenne
abessive limbottanne limboittanne
instructive — —
comitative — limboinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative limbonsa limbonsa
accusative nom. limbonsa limbonsa
gen. limbonsa
genitive limbonsa limbojensa
partitive limboaan
limboansa 		limbojaan
limbojansa
inessive limbossaan
limbossansa 		limboissaan
limboissansa
elative limbostaan
limbostansa 		limboistaan
limboistansa
illative limboonsa limboihinsa
adessive limbollaan
limbollansa 		limboillaan
limboillansa
ablative limboltaan
limboltansa 		limboiltaan
limboiltansa
allative limbolleen
limbollensa 		limboilleen
limboillensa
essive limbonaan
limbonansa 		limboinaan
limboinansa
translative limbokseen
limboksensa 		limboikseen
limboiksensa
abessive limbottaan
limbottansa 		limboittaan
limboittansa
instructive — —
comitative — limboineen
limboinensa

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

Latin edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

limbō

  1. dative/ablative singular of limbus

Middle English edit

Noun edit

limbo

  1. Alternative form of lymbo

Portuguese edit

Pronunciation edit

  • Hyphenation: lim‧bo

Noun edit

limbo m (plural limbos)

  1. (Roman Catholicism) limbo (place for innocent souls)
  2. (figurative) limbo (state of neglect or oblivion)
  3. (botany) blade (the flat part of a leaf or petal)

Spanish edit

Etymology edit

From Latin limbus.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈlimbo/ [ˈlĩm.bo]
  • Rhymes: -imbo
  • Syllabification: lim‧bo

Noun edit

limbo m (plural limbos)

  1. (Roman Catholic theology) limbo (the place where innocent souls exist)
  2. limbo (an in-between place)
    limbo jurídico ― legal limbo
  3. (botany) blade, edge
  4. (astronomy) limb

Further reading edit

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