threshold
Meanings
Plural: thresholds
Noun
- the starting point for a new state or experience
- "on the threshold of manhood"
- the smallest detectable sensation
- the entrance (the space in a wall) through which you enter or leave a room or building; the space that a door can close
- 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
- a region marking a boundary
- The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.
- An entrance; the door or gate of a house.
- Any end or boundary.
- The outset of something; the point of entry, or the beginning of an action.
- The start of the landing area of a runway.
- The quantitative point at which an action is triggered, especially a lower limit.
- The wage or salary at which income tax becomes due.
- The point where one is mentally or physically vulnerable in response to a provocation or to other nuisances.
Origin / 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, (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 terskel (“threshold”), Swedish tröskel (“threshold”), dialectal Swedish träskvald (“threshold”), Icelandic þröskuldur (“threshold”).
Pronunciations as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with -hold.
Antonyms
Scrabble Score: 16
threshold is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordthreshold is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
threshold is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary