threshold definition

English

Etymology

From Middle English threschwolde, threscholde, from Old English þresċold, þerxold, þrexwold (“doorsill, entryway”), from Proto-Germanic *þreskudlaz, *þreskūþlijaz, *þreskwaþluz, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną, *þreskwaną (“to thresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, turn”).

Cognate with Low German Drüssel (“threshold”), dialectal German Drischaufel, Drissufle, Trüschübel (“threshold”), Danish tærskel (“threshold”), Norwegian terskel (“threshold”), Swedish tröskel (“threshold”), dialectal Swedish träskvald (“threshold”), Icelandic þröskuldur (“threshold”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)əʊld/, (goat split) [ˈθɹɛʃ(h)ɒʊɫd]
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -əʊld

Noun

threshold (plural thresholds)

1. The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.
2. (by extension) An entrance; the door or gate of a house.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 166:

     Shy. You that did voide your rume vpon my beard, / And foote me as you ſpurne a ſtranger curre / Ouer your threſhold, […]

3. (by extension) Any end or boundary.
4. (figurative) The outset of something; the point of entry, or the beginning of an action.
   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xi:

     I arrived at last, did obeisance to my uncle, and told him everything. He thought it over and said: ' […] At the threshold of death, how dare I give you permission to go to England, to cross the seas? But I will not stand in your way. It is your mother's permission which really matters. If she permit you, then godspeed! Tell her I will not interfere. You will go with my blessings.'

   • 1951 March, John W. Cline, “The Future of Medicine”, in Northwest Medicine, volume 50, number 3, Portland, Ore.: Northwest Medical Publishing Association, page 165:

     The first half of this century has been referred to as the golden age of medicine. To me it seems more probable that we are on the threshold of a much greater age.

5. (aviation) The start of the landing area of a runway.
6. (engineering) The quantitative point at which an action is triggered, especially a lower limit.
7. The wage or salary at which income tax becomes due.
8. The point where one is mentally or physically vulnerable in response to a provocation or to other nuisances.

Antonyms

• (bottom-most part of a doorway): lintel

Derived terms

Translations