liminal

comparative more liminal · superlative most liminal

1. Of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold.First known use late 19th c.

   [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.

   1999, Sarah Iles Johnston, “Divinities and the Dead”, in Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece, Berkeley; Los Angeles, Calif.: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 209

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   [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.

   1870, Tertullian, “Of Modesty”, in Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, editors, Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, volumes XVIII (The Writings of Tertullian, Vol. III. with the Extant Works of Victorinus and Commodianus), Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, […], →OCLC, page 56

   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.

   1972, Barbara Bockus Aponte, quoting Alfonso Reyes, “Ramón del Valle-Inclán”, in Alfonso Reyes and Spain: His Dialogue with Unamuno, Valle-Inclán, Ortega y Gasset, Jiménez, and Gómez de la Serna, Austin, Tex.; London: University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 87

   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.

   2007, Erica Eaton, “Making Liminal Spaces Visible: Art as Active Seeing: Preface”, in Erica Eaton, Tara Smelt, editors, Liminal: Spaces-in-between Visible and Invisible, Rochester, N.Y.: Evolutionary Girls, →ISBN, page iii, column 1

   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.

   2012, Bjørn Thomassen, “Revisiting Liminality: The Danger of Empty Spaces”, in Hazel Andrews, Les Roberts, editors, Liminal Landscapes: Travel, Experience and Spaces in-between (Contemporary Geographies of Leisure, Tourism and Mobility), Abingdon, Oxon.; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part I (Navigating Liminality: Theory, Method, Strategy), page 22

   Synonyms: thresholdlike

2. literary theoryanthropologyPertaining 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.
3. Of or pertaining to a beginning or first stage of a process.First known use late 19th c.

   Every stimulus must reach a certain intensity before any appreciable sensation results. This point is known as the threshold or liminal intensity.

   1884, James Sully, “Sensation”, in Outlines of Psychology: With Special Reference to the Theory of Education. A Text-book for Colleges, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, 1, 3, and 5 Bond Street, →OCLC, page 114

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   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).

   1875, D. L[udimar] Hermann, translated by Arthur Gamgee, Elements of Human Physiology: … Translated from the Fifth Edition …, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], page 518

   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.

   2020 August 7, Jonathan Liew, “Phil Foden stars to offer Manchester City glimpse of multiple futures”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: inceptive, inchoative, marginal

4. informalaestheticOf an empty environment that evokes a surreal blend of nostalgia, comfort, and unease; see liminal space.