rite of passage


noun

Anthropology. a ceremony performed to facilitate or mark a person's change of status upon any of several highly important occasions, as at the onset of puberty or upon entry into marriage or into a clan.
any important act or event that serves to mark a passage from one stage of life to another.

Origin of rite of passage

First recorded in 1955–60

British Dictionary definitions for rite of passage

rite of passage

rite de passage

/ (French rit də pɑsaʒ) /

noun

a ceremony performed in some cultures at times when an individual changes his status, as at puberty and marriage
a significant event in a transitional period of someone's life

Medical definitions for rite of passage

rite of passage
[ rīt ]

n.

A ritual or ceremony signifying an event in a person's life indicative of a transition from one stage to another, as from adolescence to adulthood.