What is liminal? How to use in English

The word "liminal" originates from the Latin term "limen," meaning "threshold." It was first used in the 1950s by anthropologist Arnold van Gennep in his book "The Rites of Passage." Van Gennep used the term to describe a transitional phase or threshold between two stages of life, such as birth and adulthood, or death and the afterlife. During this liminal period, the individual was outside of their normal social structure and was free to leave behind their old identity and assume a new one. The concept of liminality has since been applied beyond anthropology to fields such as sociology, psychology, and literature. It is often used to describe a state of being in between two identities, roles, or phases of life, and is characterized by a sense of disorientation, marginalization, and fluidity. The concept has also been used to describe the experience of immigrants, refugees, and people who have experienced trauma.