A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1499-1513, 1567-1584
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(Limbus,) Lymbus. [Late ME. (north., c 1440) and e.m.E., med.L. limbus Limbo, the region on the border of Hell (in class. L. = hem, border, edge, fringe etc.).] Lymbus patrum (= of the patriarchs), puerorum (= of the infants), see Limbe n. b. transf. A prison. — 1513 Doug. vi. Prol. 93.
The lymbe of faderis ald, With lymbus puerorum a1500 Rois Garlandis 228.
The quhilk past doun to the lymbe, … As thou deliuerit thame that was in the lymbus patrum a1568 Bannatyne MS 32 a/65.b. 1584 Sempill Sat. P. xlv. 349.
Laich in a lymbus, whair they [witches] lay, Then Lowrie lowsit them long or day
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"Limbus n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 11 May 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/limbus>
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