limen

American  

[lahy-muhn] / ˈlaɪ mən /

noun

plural

limens, limina

1. threshold.

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limen British  

/ ˈlaɪmɛn /

noun

1. psychol another term for threshold See also liminal

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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.

Etymology

Origin of limen

First recorded in 1890–95, limen is from the Latin word līmen

Example Sentences

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

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

Do you see that you leave all your Cares and melancholy Airs at Home, and bring nothing hither but Jokes and Merriment; and as Juvenal says, _Protenus ante meum, quicquid dolet, exue limen.

From Colloquies of Erasmus, Volume I. by Erasmus, Desiderius

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

Candidus insuetum miratur limen Olympi, Sub pedibusque videt nubes et sidera.—

From Marius the Epicurean — Volume 1 by Pater, Walter