borderline English · revision 1877

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1819}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈboɹ.dɚˌlaɪn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound, [[af|en|border|line]].^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A line of demarcation, a boundary line (1819 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged; 1847 in Etymonline, as a strip of land along a frontier).^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun first named a boundary, often used figuratively of the line between two qualities or conditions.^(HTOED)^(Collins 2023) As an adjective it meant first situated at or near a border (1880),^(MWU 2024) then verging on a given quality or condition, attested from 1903, originally in medical use.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates the adjective to 1907,^(MW Collegiate) and the Historical Thesaurus records the “of indeterminate character” sense from 1937,^(HTOED) including ''borderline case'' and the meaning “verging on the indecent”.^(HTOED) In psychiatry it describes a condition of unstable mood, relationships and self-image, now called borderline personality disorder,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) and since 1977 a person with that disorder has been called a borderline.^(MWU 2024) An adverb use, “almost” (''borderline tacky''), dates from 1925.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1819 – a boundary line.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1847 – a strip of land along a frontier.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1880 – as an adjective, situated at a border.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1903 – verging on, originally medical.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1925 – as an adverb, almost.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1977 – a person with borderline personality disorder.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A line that marks a [[border]]; a [[boundary]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # An indefinite area between two qualities or conditions.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person with [[borderline personality disorder]].^(MWU 2024)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Verging on a quality or condition without clearly belonging to it; [[marginal]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Collins 2023)^(Chambers 2008)

+ # Of doubtful quality or acceptability.^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(psychiatry)'' Relating to a pattern of instability in mood, relationships and self-image.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Situated at or near a border.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Almost, nearly.^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[border]]

+ * [[frontier]]

+ * [[marginal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}