threshold means the lowermost part of a doorway that one crosses to enter; a sill. It carries an Arena rating of 1664, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, threshold ranks #274 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #546 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words, #700 of 17,130 for Most Ingenious Words, #991 of 17,130 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
threshold is pronounced /ˈθɹeʃəʊld/.
Why “threshold” is a great word
The plank, stone, or piece of timber that lies under a door; a sill, or more broadly, the point of entry or the beginning of a new state or condition. From Middle English threschwolde, threscholde, from Old English þresċold, þerxold, þrexwold ("doorsill, entryway"), from Proto-Germanic *þreskudlaz, *þreskūþlijaz, *þreskwaþluz, from the Proto-Germanic root *þreskaną, *þreskwaną ("to thresh, to tread"), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ("to rub, turn"). Unlike a lintel, which is the static, overhead beam, or a boundary, which is a line of division, a threshold is the thing you physically cross. It is the worn oak plank hollowed by generations of boots, the cold marble step that shocks bare feet, the invisible line of pressure change when a door is sealed shut—each crossing an indelible record of a decision made solid.
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 such as “thresh-hold” are un-etymological and result from analogy with hold.
noun
- 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.e.g.“on the threshold of maturity”
- 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.