rite of passage

noun

plural rites of passage

: a ritual, event, or experience that marks or constitutes a major milestone or change in a person's life

Rites of passage celebrate the social movement of individuals into and out of groups or into or out of statuses of critical importance to the individual and to the community. Reproduction, the achievement of manhood and womanhood, marriage, and death are the principal worldwide occasions for rites of passage.

—Marvin Harris

For them the two years of missionary work, with the rigorous bootcamp-style training preceding it, is a rite of passage between graduation and marriage, adolescence and adult life.

—Malise Ruthven

Today, when each year American society becomes more complex, a veritable tapestry of nationalities, the strongest of our common threads may well be the rites of passage all immigrants face.

—Harold Holzer

The author, grandson of the poet Allen Tate, dropped out of Sewanee University after going through the by-now familiar 1960's rite of passage of drugs, sex, and antiwar demonstrations …

—Caroline Seebohm

compare initiation rite

Examples of rite of passage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Saturn return is a rite of passage that everyone goes through in their late-twenties, early thirties. —Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Apr. 2024

As crises around the world have pushed a record number of people from their homes, the Darién jungle — which must be traversed to reach the United States from South America by foot — has become an unforgiving rite of passage for those seeking new lives. —Julie Turkewitz Federico Rios, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024

Apparently, this is a sort of rite of passage, to have a little bit of a rocky beginning. —Adam B. Vary, Variety, 3 Apr. 2024

Crossing up and over the fabled Donner Pass in the northern Sierra Nevada and descending to Lake Tahoe is one of those essential rites of passage for Californians. —Javier Panzar, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024

By Faith Hill Babysitting used to be both a job and a rite of passage. —Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2024

For many Americans, learning to drive is a rite of passage, a skill associated with freedom. —Miriam Jordan, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024

For many in Southern California, Disneyland sits somewhere between a landmark and a rite of passage, a place of familial and friendship rituals that stays with you long after the grand finale of the evening’s fireworks. —Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024

It’s been called a rite of passage, a whirlwind, and even a new world. —Spin Contributor, SPIN, 11 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined above