Word of the Day: LIMINAL

Just barely...

liminal (adj) - of or pertaining to a transition or threshold; existing on an edge, margin, or periphery; barely perceptible  [lim-uh-nl]

BREAKDOWN: LIM- (boundary) + -EN (made of) + -AL (pertaining to)

• a limen is a threshold or border between two things

• liminality is, in anthropology, the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage

• subliminal means existing or operating below the threshold of consciousness

“The attributes of liminality are necessarily ambiguous. Liminal entities are neither here nor there; they are betwixt and between the positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention and ceremonial” —Victor Turner