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A
The quality of ambiguity or disorientation occurring in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when the participant is between two states.
— Anthropology reference
B
Developed by anthropologist Arnold van Gennep and later elaborated by Victor Turner, who described the liminal phase as existing 'betwixt and between'.
— Turner, The Ritual Process, 1969
C
From the Latin limen, meaning threshold — the word literally refers to the state of standing in the doorway between two spaces.
— Latin etymology
D
Widely applied beyond anthropology to describe transitional cultural moments, architectural thresholds, adolescence, and crisis states.
— Cultural studies
E
Turner observed that liminal figures — those permanently trapped in liminal states, such as monks and outcasts — were universally feared across all cultures he studied in Africa.
— Turner field notes