liminal
Pronunciation: /ˈlɪmən(ə)l/
The English word “liminal” has 4 meanings listed here.
adjective
- Of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold.
- 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.
- Of or pertaining to a beginning or first stage of a process.
- Of an empty environment that evokes a surreal blend of nostalgia, comfort, and unease; see liminal space.
Etymology
From Latin līmināris, 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…
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.