MAIN ENTRY: sub·lim·i·nal

PRONUNCIATION: \(ˌ)sə-ˈbli-mə-n^əl\

FUNCTION: adjective

ETYMOLOGY: (ca. 1886) From “below the threshold” (of consciousness), formed from sub (“below”) + Latin limen (“threshold”). It is apparently a loan translation of German unter der Schwelle (des Bewusstseins) (“beneath the threshold [of consciousness]”), from Johann Friedrich Herbart, who authored a textbook on psychology published in 1824.

DEFINITION

1. inadequate to produce a sensation or a perception

2. existing or functioning below the threshold of consciousness

SYNONYMS

imperceptible, unperceivable, subconscious, mental, unconscious

USAGE

Many critically acclaimed films are packed with subliminal messages.

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“Subliminal perception is a subject that virtually no one wants to believe exists, and—if it does exist—they much less believe that it has any practical application. . . . The techniques are in widespread use by media, advertising and public relations agencies, industrial and commercial corporations, and by the Federal government itself.”

— Wilson Bryan Key