rite of passage
a ritual that marks a specific life transition, such as birth, menarche, marriage, or death, or a milestone such as a bar mitzvah, graduation, or admission to a new profession or association. In many prescientific societies, such rites are considered essential if the individual is to make a successful transition from one status to another. The persistence of rites of passage in modern secular societies where there is no such belief suggests that they can fulfill an important psychosocial function for both the individual and the social group. See birth rite; death rite; puberty rite.