threshold
[thresh-ohld, thresh-hohld]
- the sill of a doorway.
- the entrance to a house or building.
- any place or point of entering or beginning: the threshold of a new career.
- Also called limen. Psychology, Physiology. the point at which a stimulus is of sufficient intensity to begin to produce an effect: the threshold of consciousness; a low threshold of pain.
Origin of threshold
before 900; Middle English threschold, Old English threscold, threscwald; cognate with Old Norse threskǫldr, dialectal Swedish träskvald; akin to thresh in old sense “trample, tread”; -old, -wald unexplained
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for threshold
Contemporary Examples
There is one final lesson to learn before he crosses the threshold from darkness to glory.
The Walking Dead’s Luke Skywalker: Rick Grimes Is the Perfect Modern-Day Mythical HeroRegina Lizik
October 28, 2014
She took her temperature on Monday and noted it was slightly elevated to 99.5, just under the threshold for worry.
That year was really the first year that I stepped over the threshold and became more of a collaborator.
Once a threshold osmolality is reached in our bodies, it triggers our brains to make us seek water.
To meet that threshold, experts said, the bond investments or royalty income would have to be substantial.
Law-Breaking Judges Took Cases That Could Make Them Even RicherReity O’Brien, Kytja Weir, Chris Young, Center for Public Integrity
April 28, 2014
Historical Examples
Banstead lingered by the threshold and took up an illustrated paper.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
He rose, saw Katherine, Austin, and Viviette on the threshold.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
She was upon her knees on the threshold—her arms crossed over her breast.
Tales And Novels, Volume 4 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
As he crossed the threshold, he turned round and blessed me.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
His torch will be at the threshold and his knife at the throat of the planter.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VII (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
threshold
- Also called: doorsill a sill, esp one made of stone or hardwood, placed at a doorway
- any doorway or entrance
- the starting point of an experience, event, or ventureon the threshold of manhood
- psychol the strength at which a stimulus is just perceivedthe threshold of consciousness Compare absolute threshold, difference threshold
- a level or point at which something would happen, would cease to happen, or would take effect, become true, etc
- (as modifier)threshold price; threshold effect
- the minimum intensity or value of a signal, etc, that will produce a response or specified effecta frequency threshold
- (as modifier)a threshold current
- (modifier) designating or relating to a pay agreement, clause, etc, that raises wages to compensate for increases in the cost of living
Word Origin
Old English therscold; related to Old Norse threskoldr, Old High German driscubli, Old Swedish thriskuldi
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for threshold
n.
Old English þrescold, þærscwold, þerxold "doorsill, point of entering," first element related to Old English þrescan (see thresh), with its original sense of "tread, trample." Second element of unknown origin and much transformed in all the Germanic languages; in English it probably has been altered to conform to hold, but the oft-repeated story that the threshold was a barrier placed at the doorway to hold the chaff flooring in the room is mere folk etymology. Cognates include Old Norse þreskjoldr, Swedish tröskel, Old High German driscufli, German dialectal drischaufel.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
threshold
(thrĕsh′ōld′, -hōld′)
- The place or point of beginning; the outset.
- The lowest point at which a stimulus begins to produce a sensation.
- The minimal stimulus that produces excitation of any structure, eliciting a motor response.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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