liminal
Part of speech: adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: anthropology
human-sciences
sciences
Etymology: From Latin limināris, from līmen (“doorstep, threshold; doorway, entrance; beginning, commencement”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). Līmen is possibly derived from līmus (“askew; sideways”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- (“to bend, bow; elbow”)) + -men (suffix forming neuter nouns of the third declension) (from Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ (suffix forming action nouns or result nouns from verbs)).
Inflected forms:
form: more liminal
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most liminal
pos: adj
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold.
pos: adj
examples: [W]ith the utmost strictness, we excommunicate digamists, as bringing infamy upon the Paraclete by the irregularity of their discipline. The selfsame liminal limit we fix for adulterers also and fornicators; dooming them to pour forth tears barren of peace, and to regain from the church no ampler return than the publication of their disgrace.
There is a reminiscence, which comes and goes, of Mexican words, of Mexican turns of speech and puns. It is a murmur that wanders in the liminal part of his soul, but the writer [Ramón del Valle-Inclán] lets it be felt with full consciousness of what he is doing.
[S]paces such as the threshold of a door are "liminal," lying between otherwise defined areas without belonging to either of them. All over the world, […] liminal situations are associated with demons.
Art functions as a way of creating knowledge that considers and includes liminal space. As artists, we reflect what is seen, what is experienced and the spaces in-between: that which we know but cannot explain, that which is common human experience—it connects us.
Caves have been, in many cultures, crucial liminal spaces where shamanistic ekstases occurred, bringing humans into contact with the spirits or the beyond. […] It is now a well-accepted hypothesis that cave paintings, such as the famous ones at Lascaux, must be interpreted as being part of ritual passages and actual liminal experiences.
gloss: Pertaining to or in a state that is in-between or transitional between two (or more) other states, while belonging to neither; pertaining to or in a state such as to be neither definitively in a particular other state or category nor definitively outside it.
pos: adj
gloss: Of or pertaining to a beginning or first stage of a process.
pos: adj
examples: If it be assumed […] (2) that the imperceptible value which it [resistance] finally attains is equal to the liminal intensity of the stimulus; and (3) that the intensity of the sensation is proportionate to the magnitude of the area of the circle of irradiation,—the same relation between strength of stimulus, liminal intensity, and intensity of sensation is found as is expressed by 'Fechner's formula' (Maassformel).
Every stimulus must reach a certain intensity before any appreciable sensation results. This point is known as the threshold or liminal intensity.
If it felt like a passing of the torch, then on a night of silent jubilee for City it was also a liminal moment for Foden himself: the point at which he stopped being potential. When he stopped being the future and became the present.
Related words: delimit
delimitation
limit
limitation
limited
limitedly
limitedness
limitless
limitlessly
unlimited
unlimitedly
unlimitedness
Derived words: liminality
liminary
Translations: