bardo
|bar-do|
🇺🇸
/ˈbɑr.doʊ/
🇬🇧
/ˈbɑː.dəʊ/
in-between state
Etymology
'bardo' originates from Tibetan, specifically the word 'bar do', where 'bar' meant 'between' and 'do' meant 'state' or 'existence'.
'bardo' entered English in the early 20th century through translations of Tibetan texts (notably W. Y. Evans-Wentz's translations of 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead'), and it corresponds to the Sanskrit concept 'antarabhava' meaning 'intermediate existence'.
Initially, it referred specifically to the Tibetan Buddhist doctrine of the intermediate state after death; over time it has also been used in English to refer more generally to any transitional or liminal period.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
in Tibetan Buddhism, the intermediate state between death and rebirth; the transitional realm or state experienced after death and before a new life.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead describes the experiences one may encounter in the bardo.
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Noun 2
figuratively, any transitional, in-between, or liminal phase in life or experience.
After her divorce she described the next year as a bardo — a time between who she had been and who she might become.
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Last updated: 2026/01/15 10:38