In general, a is a fixed location or value where an abrupt change is observed. It may also have the following meanings:
- In Architecture , a threshold is a strip of wood, metal or stone located on the floor in a doorway following the line of division between the two spaces linked by the doorway.
- In Cryptography , a cryptosystem is called a threshold one, if in order to decrypt a secret a number of parties that hold a key share exceeding the is required.
- In Psychology , Sensory Threshold is one of the nine aspects of temperament. The minimum amount of stimulus energy necessary to elicit a sensory response.
The word "threshold" is derived from O.E. þrescold, þærscwold, þerxold "doorsill, point of entering," first element related to O.E. þrescan (see thresh), with its original sense of "tread, trample." Second element of unknown origin and much transformed in all the Gmc. languages; in Eng. it probably has been altered to conform to hold, but the oft-repeated story that the threshold was a barrier placed at the doorway to hold the chaff flooring in the room is mere folk etymology. Cognates include O.N. þreskjoldr, Swed. tröskel, O.H.G. driscufli, Ger. dial. drischaufel.
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