limbo: English has two distinct and probably unrelated words limbo. By far the older is the theological limbo [14], referring originally to that condition in which the souls of the dead exist that are neither in heaven nor in hell. It comes from Latin limbus ‘border, edge’, which in the Middle Ages was used to refer to a region on the borders of, but not actually inside, hell.
It very often turned up in the ablative case, in the phrase in limbo, which is how English adopted it. The other limbo [20], denoting a West Indian dance that involves passing underneath a progressively lowered bar, probably comes from limber ‘flexible, supple’ [16], which in turn might be from limb or possibly from limber ‘detachable forward part of a gun-carriage’ [15] (although spellings of that with a b do not occur before the 17th century).
No one knows where that limber came from, although it might ultimately be Celtic. Alternatively, if the bar is viewed as a sort of boundary that the dancer must cross, the terpsichorean limbo could be related to the theological limbo.
limbo (n.1)
"region supposed to exist on the border of Hell" reserved for pre-Christian saints (Limbus patrum) and unbaptized infants (Limbus infantum);" c. 1300, from Latin limbo, ablative of limbus "edge, border" (see limb (2)). It emerged from Latin in the ablative form from frequent use in phrases such as in limbo (patrum), etc. Figurative sense of "condition of neglect or oblivion" is from 1640s.
limbo (n.2)
dance in which the dancer bends backward and passes under a bar, 1956, of W.Indian origin, probably an alteration of limber.
雙語例句
1. the limbo of the stateless person
無國籍人的不安定狀態(tài)
來自《權(quán)威詞典》
2. Neither party accepted her, so she was in limbo.
兩黨都不承認(rèn)她, 所以她遭到忽略.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
3. I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead. I felt as if I was in limbo.
我不知道家人是生是死，感覺自己茫然無措。
來自柯林斯例句
4. We're in limbo at the moment because we've finished our work in this country and now we're waiting for our next contract.
我們目前正處于斷檔期,因為我們在這個國家的工作已經(jīng)完成,正在等待下一個合同.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
5. Some other way of entering limbo must be thought of.