Brewer's: Limbus Patrum

The half-way house between earth and heaven, where the patriarchs and prophets, after death, await the coming of Messiah. According to the Roman Catholic notion, this is the “hell,” or hades, into which Jesus Christ descended after He gave up the ghost on the cross. Limbo, and sometimes Limbo patrum, is used for “quod,” jail, confinement.

“I have some of them in limbo patrum, and there they are like to dance these three days.” —Shakespeare: Henry VIII., v. 4.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language