Link Centre Dictionary

threshold

thres·hold

UK/ˈθɹeʃəʊld/ US/ˈθɹɛʃˌhəʊld/ fairly common

noun

1.

the starting point for a new state or experience

  • “on the threshold of manhood”
2.
3.

the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close

  • “he stuck his head in the doorway”
Synonyms
4.

the sill of a door; a horizontal piece of wood or stone that forms the bottom of a doorway and offers support when passing through a doorway

Synonyms
5.

Origin

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, (originally) to tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, turn”). Cognate with Low German Drüssel (“threshold”), dialectal German Drischaufel, Drissufle, Trüschübel (“threshold”), Danish tærskel (“threshold”), Norwegian Bokmål terskel (“threshold”), Norwegian Nynorsk treskald (“threshold”), Swedish tröskel (“threshold”), dialectal Swedish träskvald (“threshold”), Icelandic þröskuldur (“threshold”). Pronunciations such as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with hold.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.