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

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

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

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

From Marius the Epicurean — Volume 1 by Pater, Walter

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

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