rite of passage

From rite +‎ of +‎ passage,^[1] 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).^[2]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɹaɪt‿əv ˈpæsɪd͡ʒ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɹaɪt‿əv ˈpæsɪd͡ʒ/, [ˌɹaɪɾ‿əv-]

• Audio (General American):

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• Rhymes: -æsɪdʒ
• Hyphenation: rite of pass‧age

rite of passage (plural rites of passage)

1. (cultural anthropology) 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.

   Synonym: rite de passage

   • 1897, H[enry] S[wainson] Cowper, “Section IV. The Senams and Their Story”, in The Hill of the Graces: A Record of Investigation among the Trilithons and Megalithic Sites of Tripoli, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, pages 185–186:

     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.

   • 1949, Joseph Campbell, “Prologue: The Monomyth”, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Cleveland, Oh.: Meridian Books, World Publishing Company, published April 1969, →OCLC, 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.

3. (by extension) Any significant event or experience that marks a transition from one stage in a person's life to another.

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

   • 1989 December 17–23, Terri L. Jewell, “The Power of Black Women Together: Shay Youngblood’s Marvelous Extended Family of Stories [review of The Big Mama Stories (1989) by Shay Youngblood]”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 23, Boston, Mass.: The Bromfield Street Educational Foundation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13, column 1:

     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 Online‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 April 2023:

     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.

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