Purgatory
Etymology
From Latin “purgatorium,” from “purgare” (to cleanse, purify), from “purus” (pure). It names a doctrine, prominent in Roman Catholicism, of a temporary purifying state after death for those bound ultimately for heaven. The figurative sense — “stuck in purgatory” — keeps the idea of a miserable, drawn-out waiting between two states.
noun · /PUR-guh-tor-ee/
In Catholic doctrine, an intermediate state where souls are purified before entering heaven.
What it names
A place of temporary cleansing suffering — and, loosely, any prolonged in-between state of waiting and discomfort.
Example
The visa backlog left them in a bureaucratic purgatory: not rejected, not approved, just waiting for years.
Related idea
Limbo (already in the lexicon) is a permanent borderland for souls neither saved nor damned; purgatory is temporary and purposeful — suffering that cleanses toward an eventual heaven.