A noun meaning the point or level at which something begins or changes, especially the minimum amount or threshold of perception or effect. It can denote a doorway or entry, a limit, or a border point before a new condition or state. In figurative use, it marks the brink of a significant change or action.
"The safety threshold for noise exposure is 85 decibels."
"They crossed the threshold into the gallery, stepping from sunlight into cool shade."
"Her pain tolerance reached a threshold she hadn’t imagined."
"The company set a revenue threshold that triggered the bonus."
Threshold comes from Old English and Middle English origins. The term originally referred to a doorway or entry, combining the Old English thersheld or thershold, with or without variations like thershwealde, thersweald. It was conjured from a compound related to a door’s threshold—the sill protected by a threshold stone. The notion evolved from the literal architectural threshold into a figurative boundary or limit, marking the point at which conditions change or a perceptible effect begins. In early usage, thresholds often described land boundaries or the sill of a doorway; later, the sense expanded to thresholds of pain, perception, and thresholds of action, where a minimal input yields a detectable response. By Middle English and Early Modern English, threshold carried both physical and metaphorical senses, and today it commonly denotes a boundary condition, a minimum level required for a phenomenon to occur, or the brink of a new phase. The first known written attestations appear in medieval texts describing thresholds of doors and halls, gradually merging to boundary and limit contexts in literature and science through the 16th to 18th centuries, with modern usage firmly established in psychology, physics, and everyday speech.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Threshold" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Threshold" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Threshold"
-ugh sounds
-oth sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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Phonetic guide: US: /ˈθrɛʃˌhoʊld/ (stress on first syllable; rhotic with /r/ after θ; the /r/ blends into /ɛ/). UK: /ˈθreʃˌhəʊld/ (non-rhotic accent; /r/ not pronounced after θ; vowel in second syllable is a schwa or /ə/; final /oʊld/ becomes /həʊld/). AU: /ˈθreʃˌhəʊld/ (similar to UK; non-rhotic; rounded /oʊ/). Mouth positions: start with the dental fricative /θ/, lift the tongue blade to create the /θ/; roll quickly into /r/ or an /r/-like onset, then /e/ to /ɪ/ or /ɛ/ in stressed syllable; end with /hoʊld/ or /həʊld/, with the /ld/ as a light alveolar lip-closure.
Common errors: (1) Substituting /f/ or /s/ for /θ/ (e.g., /frɛʃ/ or /srɛʃ/). Correction: place the tongue between the teeth and push air; keep the tip near the upper teeth. (2) Misplacing the /r/ after /θ/: in American speech the /r/ should be a smooth flow, not a rolled or velar stop. Practice linking /θr/ as a single transition. (3) Mispronouncing the trailing /ld/ as /ld/ too hard; it’s a light, quick alveolar closure with a soft l. Target: /ˈθrɛʃˌhoʊld/ with a crisp but not exaggerated /ld/.
In US English, start with /θr-/ cluster; the /r/ is rhotic and follows; the final syllable uses /oʊld/. In UK English, /θr/ often aligns with a less postvocalic r; the second syllable uses /əʊld/, with a stronger vowel reduction in casual speech. Australian English typically mirrors UK patterns: non-rhotic or weak rhoticity, with a similar /əʊ/ diphthong in the second syllable and a light /l/ before /d/. Overall, the key differences lie in rhoticity and vowel quality of the second syllable.
The difficulty comes from the initial /θ/ fricative paired with the /r/ cluster immediately after, creating a consonant blend that many learners struggle to pronounce in sequence. Additionally, the second syllable reduces to /ɪ/ or /ə/ depending on accent, which can alter perceived stress. The final /ld/ sequence requires precise alveolar closure without adding extra syllables. Practicing the fast transition from dental fricative to /r/ and then slipping into /hoʊld/ helps reduce stumbles.
Question: Is the 'threshold' stemmed from a doorway concept, and does that influence pronunciation?
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