Word Study
limbus
CIDE DICTIONARY
limbus, n. [L. limbus border, edge in limbo on the border. Cf. Limb border.].
- An spiritual region where certain classes of souls were supposed to await the last judgment. [1913 Webster]" 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." [1913 Webster]"As far from help as Limbo is from bliss." [1913 Webster]"A Limbo large and broad, since called
The Paradise of fools." [1913 Webster] - Hence: Any real or imaginary place of restraint or confinement; a prison; as, to put a man in limbo. [1913 Webster]
- 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; as, the proposal was left in limbo while opponents and proponents refused to compromise. [PJC]
- A border or margin; as, the limbus of the cornea. [1913 Webster]
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