rites of passage

Noun

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.
   • 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...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 &...

   Synonyms:

   rite de passage

2. (broadly) 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.