bardo

American  

[bahr-doh] / ˈbɑr doʊ /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

plural

bardos

1. (in Lamaism) the state of the soul between death and rebirth.

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bardo British  

/ ˈbɑːdəʊ /

noun

1. (in Tibetan Buddhism) the state of the soul between its death and its rebirth

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Etymology

Origin of bardo

First recorded in 1625–30, bardo is from the Tibetan word bár-do “between two” (i.e., a transition, intermediate state)

Example Sentences

Tristan’s passage between worlds is anything but serene, and dancers, subtly choreographed by Annie-B Parson, accompany him as he hovers in the tunnel that suggests the bardo of Tibetan Buddhism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

The book spends much of its time trapped in the drowsy, malevolent bardo of its heroine’s increasingly sinister confinement, every hour a slow drip of impending calamity.

From New York Times • May 25, 2023

No, because living in the bardo entails not having certainty.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 16, 2022

It’s like a cultural bardo — between a Kardashian present and a brave Frances McDormand future.

From Washington Post • Nov. 22, 2021

It’s in the nature of the bardo, which exists, in Tibetan Buddhism, as a kind of purgatory, a transitional space for souls that can’t give up their former lives.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2017