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liminal

liminal

3 8.4
Being between two states or places, like before and after a change
  • adjective
  • /ˈlɪmɪnəl/
translation icon : liminal
  • In psychology, times of transition are known as liminal states, as being on a threshold.
  • liminal space
  • liminal status
  • liminal period

So last in the liminal space because the door to the next season will open.

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Examples

  • Where you're in a liminal space in between two things.

  • Rites of passage have three phases: separation, transition (liminal), and worldly return.

    Academic text (1994)
  • So last in the liminal space because the door to the next season will open.

  • And where does forgiveness live in this liminal space?

  • The actual cutting occurs right at dawn, in the liminal period between night and day.

    Academic text (1991)
  • In this brief liminal space nestled between the past and the future, let us pause.

  • The pilgrim church is itself a liminal reality, occupying the border between heaven and earth.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The arcade is recognized as a liminal space between worlds and even between different eras.

    Academic text (2000)
  • They are concurrently temporalities of transition, balanced on the liminal edge between transgression and transition.

  • The actual cutting occurs right at dawn, in the liminal period between night and day.

Synonyms

in-between
vsliminal
116 4.0

In the middle between two other things, neither the start nor the end

focuses on the boundary or process of moving between states rather than mid position
liminary
vsliminal
9.9

Near the edge between two stages, like childhood and adulthood

is about thresholds and transitional states broadly rather than stressing exact border

How Transitional

transitional
54 4.7
liminal
3 8.4
in-between
116 4.0
marginal
11 4.7

Surface Forms

liminal positive

Morphology

liminal = limen (opaque) = limen + al

Although the word is historically related to 'limen' plus '-al', the base noun is obscure for most learners and the stem alternation makes the form non-obvious.

Etymology

Liminal comes from the Latin word limen, meaning 'threshold', like the line at a doorway between two places. You can see the same root in subliminal, meaning 'below the threshold', so liminal describes something on a boundary or in a state between two conditions.