rite of passage
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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The Problem With AwesomeMany words have been wasted on the subject of when adulthood starts. Some hold that it comes about with the right to drink alcoholic beverages or vote in an election. For particularly stringent grammarians of a certain generation, the rite of passage that marks the official start of adulthood is the point at which one becomes annoyed at hearing someone say that something is awesome, …
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
ritalin, ritardando, rite, rite de passage, rite of intensification, rite of passage, rite of spring, the, ritenuto, rites of passage, ritornello, ritschlian
Origin of rite of passage
First recorded in 1955–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
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
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Medicine 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.