Other forms: cusps
A cusp is the point at which one state turns into another. On the cusp of change, the cusp of adulthood, right on the cusp.
It nearly always appears as on the cusp of, meaning about to become. In anatomy, a cusp is a point on a tooth or a flap of a heart valve. In astrology it is the boundary between two signs, which is where the popular use came from. Note that the Latin means a point or spear tip.
1nouncuspThe point at which one state turns into another.
“She is on the cusp of becoming a star after her first hit song.”
2nountoothA point on a tooth or a flap of a heart valve.
“The dentist pointed to a small crack in one cusp of my back tooth.”
cusp is a turning point.
Also accepted in games: threshold
Latin cuspis means a point or spear tip. The word came into English through astrology.
Latin
cuspis — a point, spear, pointed end
English, today
cusp
From Latin cuspis (“a point, spear, pointed end”); first used in astrology. a doublet of cuspid and cuspis.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire