limen
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What does limen mean? A limen is a threshold or border between one thing and another. In psychology and physiology, the word more specifically refers to the point or threshold at which a sensation, such as pain, becomes strong enough to be experienced. In this sense, the limen is the dividing line between the sensation being too faint to be noticed and the point where it starts to be felt. In medicine, limen refers to the opening or entrance to a body part, such as an anatomical canal. The adjective liminal can be used for all senses of the word limen to describe things that are located or exist at such a point. The state of existing at such a point is called liminality. The correct plural of limen can be either limens or limina. Example: This study will attempt to identify the limen at which the sensation of pain can be experienced by a patient.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of limen
First recorded in 1890–95, limen is from the Latin word līmen
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The lowest and highest intensity points of sensation are called the lower and upper limen, or threshold, respectively.
From The Mind and Its Education by Betts, George Herbert
Ante portam palatij sunt Barones custodientes, ne aliquis limen portæ tangat.
From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 09 Asia, Part II by Hakluyt, Richard
Satur fu fere Mars, limen sali, sta berber!
From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by Fowler, W. Warde
Satur fufere Mars: limen sali sta berber: Semones alternei advocapit cunctos.
From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by Dunlop, John
But Scaevola, the son of Publius Scaeaevola, thinks the word is a compound one, so that it is made up of post and limen.
From The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 4 by Cicero, Marcus Tullius
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
