limbo vs purgatory

limbo

noun
  • Any in-between place, state or condition of neglect or oblivion which results in an unresolved status, delay or deadlock. 

  • A dance in which dancers take turns crossing under a horizontal bar or stick. The stick is lowered with each round, and the game is won by the player who passes under the bar in the lowest position. 

  • The place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven, notably those of the saints who died before the advent of Christ (limbus patruum) and those of unbaptized but innocent children (limbus infantum). 

verb
  • To dance in this way. 

purgatory

noun
  • Any situation where suffering is endured, particularly as part of a process of redemption. 

adj
  • Tending to cleanse; expiatory. 

How often have the words limbo and purgatory occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )