Liminal is a word for the in-between. It describes states, times, spaces, etc., that exist at a point of change—a metaphorical threshold—as in “the liminal zone between sleep and wakefulness.”

During a rite's liminal stage, participants "stand at the threshold" [3] between their previous way of structuring their identity, time, or community, and a new way (which completing the rite establishes).

A range of discursive strategies place the characters in gossip-stories (even in the category called "self-gossip") in marginalized, liminal, or uncertain social spaces.

Liminal is an adjective that’s used to describe things that exist at the threshold (or border) between one thing and another. In psychology and physiology, the word more specifically means relating to the …

Liminality is the state of being in between: no longer what you were, but not yet what you’re becoming. The word comes from the Latin “limen,” meaning threshold, and it describes any period, place, or …

Liminal, a word which is used to define those moments which are uncertain, shifting, or incomplete. It is derived from the Latin word “limen”, meaning “threshold”. It first appeared in the ...

Apr 12, 2026 · A liminal space is a place or state of transition, an in-between zone that exists on the threshold between what came before and what has not yet arrived. The term comes from the Latin …

If you're in between two places or experiences, especially if you're transitioning between them, you're in a liminal place. Teenagers are in that liminal stage between childhood and adulthood — not always …

What is Liminal? The term liminal comes from the Latin limen, meaning “threshold.” When you define liminal, it refers to any state of being in transition —neither fully in the old chapter nor fully in the new …

Intermediate between two states, conditions, or regions; transitional or indeterminate: "While doctors operate, she hangs suspended in the liminal space between life and death" (Jeremy Eichler).