liminal

American  

[lim-uh-nl] / ˈlɪm ə nl /

adjective

1. Psychology. of, relating to, or situated at the limen, the threshold at which a stimulus begins to produce an effect.

   The subjects' responses to liminal stimulation differed, with some responding and some not.

2. of or relating to a transitional or intermediate state, stage, or period.

   Confusion can strike in the liminal states between waking and sleeping.

   The liminal period between adolescence and adulthood is a challenging place to be.

   Edwardian servants were liminal figures, existing in both upper- and lower-class society.

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liminal British  

/ ˈlɪmɪnəl /

adjective

1. psychol relating to the point (or threshold) beyond which a sensation becomes too faint to be experienced

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Usage

What does liminal mean? Liminal is an adjective that’s used to describe things that exist at the threshold (or border) between one thing and another.In psychology and physiology, the word more specifically means relating to the point (or threshold) beyond which a sensation becomes too faint to be experienced. In this way, liminal is an adjective form of the noun limen, which refers to this threshold.Example: After graduation, many students find themselves in a liminal state before they’re fully established in the workplace.

Etymology

Origin of liminal

First recorded in 1875–80; from Latin līmin- (stem of līmen ) “threshold, lintel, sill” + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Europe, in Breuer’s view, is now in a liminal state—not yet at war, but no longer at peace.

From The Wall Street Journal

It can feel like a liminal space, but the work of a critic never stops, and a stroll through Chelsea offers views, laudable and not, of how galleries navigate this transitional period.

From The Wall Street Journal

As I see glimpses of Low’s home before and after the fires, I again feel as if I’m standing in a liminal space, a remembrance but also a reminder.

From Los Angeles Times

The posts themselves exist in a liminal space between life and death.

From The Wall Street Journal

This summer, we rescued a panini press from our apartment building’s free table — one of those liminal spaces where abandoned houseplants and half-burned candles go to live out their second lives.

From Salon