threshold

nounattested in dialogue

United Kingdom//ˈθɹeʃəʊld//
United Kingdom//ˈθɹɛʃˌhəʊld//
United Kingdom/[ˈθɹɛʃˌhɒʊɫd]/
United States//ˈθɹɛʃ(h)oʊld//

The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.

noun

1
The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.
Near-synonym: doorstep
2
An entrance; the door or gate of a house.
Shy. You that did voide your rume vpon my beard, / And foote me as you ſpurne a ſtranger curre / Ouer your threſhold, […]
3
Any end or boundary.
4
figurativeThe outset of something; the point of entry, or the beginning of an action.
on the threshold of maturity
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.'
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
The start of the landing area of a runway.
6
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.

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 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.

Forms

plural: thresholds

threatening · Presenting a threat, posing a likely risk of harm.three · A numerical value after two and before four. Represented in…threesome · A group of three people or things.

threshold · The lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill.

thrice · Three times.thrill · To suddenly excite someone, or to give someone great…thrilled · Extremely excited or delighted.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.