border

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈbɔː.də/, US /ˈbɔːr.dɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bordure,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French bordeure (“seam, edge of a shield, border”),^[4][3][5] from bord, bort “side, boundary”,^[3] from Frankish *bord or a similar Germanic source, cognate with Old English bord “side” and Old High German bort “ship's side”.^[4][3][2] The ending was weakened to -er after about 1500,^[4] and the older spelling bordure survives in heraldry.^[3][6] The verb is from the noun.^[4][3] It is related to board.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In heraldry, a broad coloured band around a shield: mid-14th century in Etymonline,^[4] about 1350 in Barnhart.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the late 14th century it meant “edge, side, brink, margin” and an ornamental edging, as on a dish or garment,^[4][8] and also the boundary of a city or country.^[4] The district along a country's boundary is from about 1400,^[4][8] replacing earlier march.^[4] The Border between England and Scotland is from 1535,^[8] and a strip of garden ground along a path from about 1400.^[8] In American history it was the line between wild and settled country (1827).^[4][8] The verb, “to put a border on”, is from about 1400,^[4][8] “to lie on the border of” from the 1530s,^[4] and to border on, “to come close to in character”, from before 1694.^[8] In East Anglian dialect border also meant coarse or obscene language.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1350 – a heraldic bordure.^[3][4]
• c. 1391 – an edge, a margin.^[8]
• c. 1400 – a frontier district; a garden border; verb.^[4][8]
• 1530s – to lie on the border of.^[4]
• 1535 – the Border, England and Scotland.^[8]
• before 1694 – to border on.^[8]
• 1827 – the American frontier.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A part that forms the outer edge of something.
2. A decorative strip around an edge, as of fabric.
3. A strip of planted ground at the edge of a garden or path.
4. The line or frontier area separating political divisions or regions.

Verb

1. To put a border on.
2. To lie along or next to the border of.
3. To be close in character; to verge: borders on the ridiculous.

Word family

• borderer
• bordered
• borderless
• borderland
• borderline
• cross-border
• transborder
• border collie

Related words

• board
• bordure
• embroider
• broider

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)