rite of passage
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noun
Anthropology. a ceremony performed to facilitate or mark a person's change of status upon any of several highly important occasions, as at the onset of puberty or upon entry into marriage or into a clan.
any important act or event that serves to mark a passage from one stage of life to another.
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Origin of rite of passage
First recorded in 1955–60
Words nearby rite of passage
ritardando, rite, rite de passage, ritenuto, rite of intensification, rite of passage, rites of passage, ritonavir, ritornello, Ritschlian, ritter
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for rite of passage
British Dictionary definitions for rite of passage
rite of passage
rite de passage
/ (French rit də pɑsaʒ) /
noun
a ceremony performed in some cultures at times when an individual changes his status, as at puberty and marriage
a significant event in a transitional period of someone's life
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Medical definitions for rite of passage
rite of passage
[ rīt ]
n.
A ritual or ceremony signifying an event in a person's life indicative of a transition from one stage to another, as from adolescence to adulthood.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.