rite of passage
/ˌɹaɪt‿əv ˈpæsɪd͡ʒ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.54 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A ceremony or series of ceremonies, often very ritualized, to celebrate a passage or transition from one stage of a person's life to another.
noun
Any significant event or experience that marks a transition from one stage in a person's life to another.
Example Sentences
- "The passage through the jambs would thus signify regeneration or new birth, which was to be followed by either sacrifice or by the purifying rite of passage through the fire; for although the passages are so narrow that they could not be used as ordinary gates, they were wide enough for this purpose, for the sacrificial victims were always youthful."
- "The so-called rites of passage, which occupy such a prominent place in the life of a primitive society (ceremonials of birth, naming, puberty, marriage, burial, etc.), are distinguished by formal, and usually very severe, exercises of severance, whereby the mind is radically cut away from the attitudes, attachments, and life patterns of the stage being left behind."
- "After John officially attained his majority, Robert bought him his first beer. This is a common American rite of passage."
- "In the final, affirming piece, "They Tell Me...Now I Know," the girlchild narrator begins menstruation, thus undergoing her rite of passage into womanhood."
- "Not only did these holiday resorts [Butlin's] become a rite of passage for TV's biggest talents – Red Coats comedians, magicians and presenters were often scouted, then sent to perform live at places like the London Palladium, before securing a television contract – but the culture within them meant that the audience were already invested in this type of entertainment once they returned home."
Etymology
From rite + of + passage, a calque of French rite de passage. The French term was coined by French ethnographer and folklorist Arnold van Gennep (1873–1957) and popularized in his work Les rites de passage (1909).
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₂er-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɹaɪt‿əv ˈpæsɪd͡ʒ/
- British English: /ˌɹaɪt‿əv ˈpæsɪd͡ʒ/