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limen

 - 10 dictionary results

li⋅men

  [lahy-muhn]
Use limen in a Sentence
–noun, plural li⋅mens, lim⋅i⋅na  [lim-uh-nuh] .
threshold (def. 4).
Origin:
1890–95; < L līmen

li⋅man

  [li-mahn, -man]
–noun Geology.
1. a muddy lagoon, marsh, or lake near the mouth of a river behind part of the delta and more or less protected from open water by a barrier or spit.
2. an area of mud or silt deposited near the mouth of a river.
Origin:
1855–60; < Russ limán estuary, coastal salt lake < Turk or Crimean Tatar < MGk liménion, liménas (cf. Gk limn harbor)

thresh⋅old

  [thresh-ohld, thresh-hohld]
–noun
1. the sill of a doorway.
2. the entrance to a house or building.
3. any place or point of entering or beginning: the threshold of a new career.
4. Also called limen. Psychology, Physiology. the point at which a stimulus is of sufficient intensity to begin to produce an effect: the threshold of consciousness; a low threshold of pain.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME threschold, OE threscold, threscwald; c. ON threskǫldr, dial. Sw träskvald; akin to thresh in old sense “trample, tread”; -old, -wald unexplained
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To limen
li·men   (lī'mən)   
n.   pl. li·mens or lim·i·na (lĭm'ə-nə)
The threshold of a physiological or psychological response.

[Latin līmen, threshold.]
lim'i·nal (lĭm'ə-nəl) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

threshold 
O.E. þrescold, þærscwold, þerxold "doorsill, point of entering," first element related to O.E. þrescan (see thresh), with its original sense of "tread, trample." Second element of unknown origin and much transformed in all the Gmc. languages; in Eng. it probably has been altered to conform to hold, but the oft-repeated story that the threshold was a barrier placed at the doorway to hold the chaff flooring in the room is mere folk etymology. Cognates include O.N. þreskjoldr, Swed. tröskel, O.H.G. driscufli, Ger. dial. drischaufel.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: threshold
Function: adjective
: of, relating to, or being a threshold threshold issue in a negligence action is whether the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff —Noakes v. City of Seattle, 895 Pacific Reporter, Second Series 842 (1995)> threshold showing of the need for psychiatric evaluation>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: li·men
Pronunciation: 'lI-m&n
Function: noun
: THRESHOLDlimen of awareness —R. M. Lindner>

Main Entry: thresh·old
Pronunciation: 'thresh-"(h)Old
Function: noun
: the point at which a physiological or psychological effect begins to beproduced (as the degree of stimulation of a nerve which just produces a response or the concentration of sugar in the blood at which sugar just begins to pass the barrier of the kidneys and enter theurine) threshold of consciousness> threshold of pain> threshold> called also limen
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

limen li·men (lī'mən)
n. pl. li·mens or lim·i·na (lĭm'ə-nə)

  1. The threshold of a physiological or psychological response.

  2. The external opening of a canal; an entrance.

lim'i·nal (lĭm'ə-nəl) adj.

threshold thresh·old (thrěsh'ōld', -hōld')
n.

  1. The place or point of beginning; the outset.

  2. The lowest point at which a stimulus begins to produce a sensation.

  3. The minimal stimulus that produces excitation of any structure, eliciting a motor response.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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