rite of passage

plural rites of passage

1. cultural anthropologyA ceremony or series of ceremonies, often very ritualized, to celebrate a passage or transition from one stage of a person's life to another.

   2 more examples

   The passage through the jambs would thus signify regeneration or new birth, which was to be followed by either sacrifice or by the purifying rite of passage through the fire; for although the passages are so narrow that they could not be used as ordinary gates, they were wide enough for this purpose, for the sacrificial victims were always youthful.

   1897, H[enry] S[wainson] Cowper, “Section IV. The Senams and Their Story”, in The Hill of the Graces: A Record of Investigation among the Trilithons and Megalithic Sites of Tripoli, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, pages 185–186

   The so-called rites of passage, which occupy such a prominent place in the life of a primitive society (ceremonials of birth, naming, puberty, marriage, burial, etc.), are distinguished by formal, and usually very severe, exercises of severance, whereby the mind is radically cut away from the attitudes, attachments, and life patterns of the stage being left behind.

   1949, Joseph Campbell, “Prologue: The Monomyth”, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Cleveland, Oh.: Meridian Books, World Publishing Company, published April 1969, →OCLC, page 10

   Synonyms: rite de passage

2. broadlyAny significant event or experience that marks a transition from one stage in a person's life to another.

   After John officially attained his majority, Robert bought him his first beer. This is a common American rite of passage.

   3 more examples

   In the final, affirming piece, "They Tell Me...Now I Know," the girlchild narrator begins menstruation, thus undergoing her rite of passage into womanhood.

   1989 December 17–23, Terri L. Jewell, “The Power of Black Women Together: Shay Youngblood’s Marvelous Extended Family of Stories [review of The Big Mama Stories (1989) by Shay Youngblood]”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 23, Boston, Mass.: The Bromfield Street Educational Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13, column 1

   Yes, the giddiness has worn off—it is no longer my “new” life, but just my life, now that I have completed not merely a second spring but half a second year, now that I have anniversaried so many of what last year were first-time experiences, the thresholds or rites of passage everyone was watching to see me cross (wondering if I’d stumble and head on “home” to the city).

   2011, Margaret Roach, “The Giddiness Wears Off”, in And I Shall Have Some Peace There […], New York, N.Y.: Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN, pages 171–172

   Not only did these holiday resorts [Butlin's] become a rite of passage for TV's biggest talents – Red Coats comedians, magicians and presenters were often scouted, then sent to perform live at places like the London Palladium, before securing a television contract – but the culture within them meant that the audience were already invested in this type of entertainment once they returned home.

   2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC Online, archived from the original on 18 Apr 2023