different between liminary vs liminal

English

Adjective

liminary (comparative more liminary, superlative most liminary)

1. (obsolete) introductory or preparatory

References

• OED 2nd edition 1989

English

Etymology

From Latin l?min?lis, from l?men (“doorstep, threshold; doorway, entrance; beginning, commencement”) + -?lis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). L?men is possibly derived from l?mus (“askew; sideways”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh?l- (“to bend, bow; elbow”)) + -men (suffix forming neuter nouns of the third declension) (from Proto-Indo-European *-mn? (suffix forming action nouns or result nouns from verbs)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?m?n(?)l/
• Hyphenation: li?min?al

Adjective

liminal (comparative more liminal, superlative most liminal)

1. Of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold. [from late 19th c.]

   Synonym: thresholdlike
2. Of or pertaining to a beginning or first stage of a process. [from late 19th c.]

   Synonyms: inceptive, inchoative, marginal

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• liminal (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• liminal in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Millian