threshold
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)əʊld/
note: goat split
ipa: [ˈθɹɛʃ(h)ɒʊɫd]
ipa: /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/
rhymes: -əʊld
Forms: form: thresholds
Etymology: From Middle English threschwolde, threscholde, from Old English þresċold, þerxold, þrexwold (“doorsill, entryway”), from Proto-Germanic *þreskudlaz, *þreskūþlijaz, *þreskwaþluz, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną, *þreskwaną (“to thresh, (originally) to tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, turn”).
Cognate with Low German Drüssel (“threshold”), dialectal German Drischaufel, Drissufle, Trüschübel (“threshold”), Danish tærskel (“threshold”), Norwegian terskel (“threshold”), Swedish tröskel (“threshold”), dialectal Swedish träskvald (“threshold”), Icelandic þröskuldur (“threshold”).
Pronunciations such as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with hold.
Senses: synonyms: doorsill
doorstep
glosses: The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.
examples: text: Shy. You that did voide your rume vpon my beard, / And foote me as you ſpurne a ſtranger curre / Ouer your threſhold, […]
ref: c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 166:
glosses: An entrance; the door or gate of a house.
glosses: Any end or boundary.
examples: text: I arrived at last, did obeisance to my uncle, and told him everything. He thought it over and said: ' […] At the threshold of death, how dare I give you permission to go to England, to cross the seas? But I will not stand in your way. It is your mother's permission which really matters. If she permit you, then godspeed! Tell her I will not interfere. You will go with my blessings.'
ref: 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xi
text: The first half of this century has been referred to as the golden age of medicine. To me it seems more probable that we are on the threshold of a much greater age.
ref: 1951 March, John W. Cline, “The Future of Medicine”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 165:
glosses: The outset of something; the point of entry, or the beginning of an action.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: The start of the landing area of a runway.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: The quantitative point at which an action is triggered, especially a lower limit.
glosses: The wage or salary at which income tax becomes due.
glosses: The point where one is mentally or physically vulnerable in response to a provocation or to other nuisances.
Derived terms: word: thresholding
word: thresholdless
word: thresholdlike
sense: multiword expressions
word: absolute threshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: bithreshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: cycle threshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: Darwinian threshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: displaced threshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: election threshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: epidemic threshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: infrathreshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: Micawber threshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: pain threshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: perithreshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: photothreshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: stereothreshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: subthreshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: superthreshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: suprathreshold
sense: multiword expressions
word: threshold braking
sense: multiword expressions
word: thresholded
sense: multiword expressions
word: threshold effect
sense: multiword expressions
word: thresholder
sense: multiword expressions
word: threshold of originality
sense: multiword expressions
word: threshold potential
sense: multiword expressions
word: threshold worker
sense: multiword expressions
word: underthreshold