Etymologically
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marginal

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈmɑː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/[1]
  • US: /ˈmɑɹ.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin marginālis (“of an edge; written in the margin”),[2][3][4][5] from margō (“edge, brink, border”), stem margin-, and the suffix -ālis,[2][4][6] the Latin noun that is also the source of margin.[3][7] In British Latin sources the adjective meant "of the shore" from about 1170 and "written in the margin" from the late 13th century.[2] The OED compares French marginal (“written in the margin”), recorded once in the 15th century and otherwise from before 1598.[2] Etymonline traces the Latin noun to Proto-Indo-European *merg- (“boundary, border”),[3] and Merriam-Webster relates it to mark.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Written or printed in the margin of a page: 1573, in R. Lever's Arte of Reason,[2][4] especially in marginal note.[2] Etymonline and the Oxford Dictionary of English also date it to the 1570s.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) knew only the bookish sense, "placed, or written on the margin".[8] From 1658 the word was used more widely of anything at an edge, border or limit;[2] from 1796 it was used in botany, zoology and medicine of parts at the edge of a body.[2] From 1887 marginal described what is close to the limit beyond which something stops being possible or worthwhile, that is, borderline,[2] and Etymonline dates the sense "of little effect or importance" to the same year,[3] although the OED records that sense only from 1952.[2] In economics Alfred Marshall's Principles of Economics (1890) used it for the cost or value of one more unit;[2] from 1910 land that barely pays was marginal.[2] Sociologists applied it from 1925 to people or groups on the edge of a society;[2] from 1948 a constituency held by a small majority was marginal,[2] a sense Collins labels chiefly British and New Zealand.[9] The noun, a marginal note, dates from 1606 and is now rare;[2] a verb, to add marginal notes, was used from before 1641 to 1787.[2]

Timeline

  • 1573 – written or printed in the margin of a page.[2][4]
  • 1606 – noun, a marginal note (now rare).[2]
  • 1658 – relating to an edge, border or limit.[2]
  • 1796 – in botany and zoology, situated at the edge of a body or part.[2]
  • 1870 – on the stock market, relating to trading on margin.[2]
  • 1887 – close to a limit; borderline.[2][3]
  • 1890 – in economics, relating to the cost or value of one additional unit.[2]
  • 1925 – in sociology, on the edge of a society.[2]
  • 1948 – of a constituency, closely contested.[2]
  • 1952 – of minor importance.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Written or printed in the margin of a page: marginal annotations in pencil.
  2. Situated at or near an edge or border.
  3. Close to a lower limit; barely enough or borderline: The harvest was marginal this year.
  4. Of little importance; minor or peripheral: The changes had only a marginal effect on sales.
  5. (economics) Relating to the extra cost or benefit of producing or consuming one more unit: marginal utility.
  6. (politics, chiefly British) Of a constituency, held by a small majority and likely to change hands at an election.
  7. (sociology) Of a person or group, isolated from or not fitting into the dominant society or culture.

Noun

  1. (zoology) A marginal part, such as one of the plates around the edge of a turtle's shell.
  2. (rare) A marginal note.

Word family

  • marginality
  • marginally
  • inframarginal
  • intermarginal
  • intramarginal
  • transmarginal
  • unmarginal
  • marginalize

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins