rite of passage

English

Noun

rite of passage (plural rites of passage)

1. (anthropology) A ceremony or series of ceremonies, often very ritualized, to celebrate a transition in a person’s life. Baptisms, bar mitzvahs, weddings and funerals are among the best known examples.

   After John officially attained his majority, Robert bought him his first beer. This is a common American rite of passage.

   • 1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 10:

     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.

   • 1989 December 17, Terri L. Jewell, “The Power Of Black Women Together”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 23, page 13:

     In the final, affirming piece, "They Tell Me...Now I Know," the girlchild narrator begins menstruation, thus undergoing her rite of passage into womanhood.

   • 2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Not only did these holiday resorts 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.

Translations

ceremony to celebrate a transition

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 成年儀式／成年仪式 (chéngnián yìshì), 成年禮／成年礼 (chéngniánlǐ)

• Danish: overgangsrite c
• Dutch: rite de passage m, overgangsritueel (nl) n
• Finnish: siirtymäriitti
• French: rite de passage (fr) m
• German: Übergangsritus m, Initiationsritus (de) m, Übergangsritual n, Initiation (de) f, Passageritus m, Erwachsenwerden (de) n
• Greek: διαβατήρια τελετή f (diavatíria teletí)
• Hungarian: beavatási szertartás, beavatási rítus
• Icelandic: manndómsvígsla f
• Italian: rito di passaggio m
• Japanese: 通過儀礼 (つうかぎれい, tsūka girei)
• Khmer: សេចក្តីក្លាហានដួងនៃការអនុម័ត (səckdəy klaa haan duəŋ ney kaa a’nu’mat)
• Norwegian: overgangsrite m
• Polish: obrzęd przejścia m
• Portuguese: rito de passagem m
• Russian: обря́д посвяще́ния m (obrjád posvjaščénija)
• Scottish Gaelic: deas-ghnàth inbhe m
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: rito de paso m
• Swedish: övergångsrit (sv) c
• Thai: พิธีกรรมเปลี่ยนผ่าน