liminal

[ lim-uh-nl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

Psychology. of, relating to, or situated at the limen, the threshold at which a stimulus begins to produce an effect:
The subjects' responses to liminal stimulation differed, with some responding and some not.
of or relating to a transitional or intermediate state, stage, or period: liminal space def.
Confusion can strike in the liminal states between waking and sleeping.
The liminal period between adolescence and adulthood is a challenging place to be.
Edwardian servants were liminal figures, existing in both upper- and lower-class society.

liminal

/ ˈlɪmɪnəl /

psychol relating to the point (or threshold) beyond which a sensation becomes too faint to be experienced

Origin of liminal¹

First recorded in 1875–80; from Latin līmin- (stem of līmen ) “threshold, lintel, sill” + -al ¹

Origin of liminal¹

C19: from Latin līmen threshold

This may be technically expressed by saying that the liminal intensity (Schwelle) is raised during sleep.

The supra-liminal returns into harmony with the subliminal; the individual life and the mass-life are reunited.

Meantime we are aware also of a substratum of fragmentary automatic, liminal ideas, of which we take small account.

April 25, 2024firkin

[fur-kin ]

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