English
liminal
Liminal comes from Latin līmināris ‘of or pertaining to the threshold or lintel’, and goes back to līmen.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmen‘doorstep, threshold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmināris‘of or pertaining to the threshold or lintel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1870liminal
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmen‘doorstep, threshold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElīmināris‘of or pertaining to the threshold or lintel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1870liminal
Earliest quotation: 1870, Tertullian, Of Modesty: “[W]ith the utmost strictness, we excommunicate digamists, as bringing…”
The story
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 (suffix forming action nouns or result nouns from verbs)).
Linked words
through Latin līmen ‘doorstep, threshold’
preliminary, eliminate, elimination, sublime, sublimation, sublimate, 5 more
Today it means
adj Of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin līmen / liminal