'threshold' originates from Old English, specifically the word 'þrescold', where 'þrescan' meant 'to tread' and 'hold' meant 'wooden part'.

'þrescold' transformed into the Middle English word 'threshwold', and eventually became the modern English word 'threshold'.

Initially, it meant 'a piece of wood or stone forming the bottom of a doorway', but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'beginning point or level'.