Definitions for "liminality"
that temporary state during a rite of passage when the participant lacks social status or rank, is required to follow specified forms of conduct, and is expected to show obedience and humility.
Refers to a difficult period "betwixt and between" two social categories and states of being, for example, an adolescent has reached sexual maturity, but is not yet an adult until socially recognized as an adult.
an intermediate ritual phase in which participants (usually initiates in rites of passage) are considered sacred or polluting by virtue of their anomalous and ambiguous social position.