Let M d,n (q) denote the number of monic irreducible polynomials in Fq[x1, x2, . . . , xn] of degree d. We show that for a fixed degree d, the sequence M d,n (q) converges coefficientwise to an explicitly determined rational function M d,∞ (q). The limit M d,∞ (q) is related to the classic necklace polynomial M d,1 (q) by an involutive functional equation we call liminal reciprocity. The limiting first moments of factorization statistics for squarefree polynomials are expressed in terms of symmetric group characters as a consequence of liminal reciprocity, giving a liminal analog of the twisted Grothendieck-Lefschetz formula of Church, Ellenberg, and Farb.