marginal

English

Etymology

Borrowing from Medieval Latin marginālis.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːˌdʒɪn.əl/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

marginal (not generally comparable, comparative more marginal, superlative most marginal)

1. (not comparable) Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge).

   The marginal area at the edge of the salt-marsh has its own plants.

   In recent years there has been an increase in violence against marginal groups.

   1. Written in the margin of a book.

      There were more marginal notes than text.

      • 1999, R. I. Page, Introduction to English Runes, Boydell Press, page 198:

        The early pages had marginal notes most of which were lost when rats nibbled away the manuscript edges.

   2. (geography) Sharing a border; geographically adjacent.

      Monmouthshire is a Welsh county marginal to England.

2. (comparable) Determined by a small margin; having a salient characteristic determined by a small margin.
   1. Of a value, or having a characteristic that is of a value, that is close to being unacceptable or leading to exclusion from a group or category.

      His writing ability was marginal at best.

      Having reviewed the test, there are two students below the required standard and three more who are marginal.

      The pilots lacked experience flying in marginal weather conditions.

   2. (of land) Barely productive.

      He farmed his marginal land with difficulty.

   3. (politics, chiefly Britain, Australia, New Zealand, of a constituency) Subject to a change in sitting member with only a small change in voting behaviour, this usually being inferred from the small winning margin of the previous election.

      In Bristol West, Labour had a majority of only 1,000, so the seat is considered highly marginal this time around.

      • 2002, Andrew Geddes, Jonathan Tonge, Labour′s Second Landslide: The British General Election 2001, page 79,

        In ‘battleground’ seats with the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat vote shares increased most in the most marginal seats.

      • 2007, Robert Waller, Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics, page 58,

        In Outer London, Harrow East is now a more marginal Labour hold than Harrow West.

      • 2010, Nick Economou, Zareh Ghazarian, Australian Politics For Dummies, unnumbered page,

        The pendulum lists the seats from least marginal to most marginal for the government on one side, and least marginal to most marginal for the opposition on the other side.

3. (economics, not comparable) Pertaining to changes resulting from a unit increase in production or consumption of a good.

Derived terms

• callosomarginal
• comarginal
• marginal cost
• marginalise, marginalize

• marginality
• marginally
• marginal utility
• postmarginal
• submarginal

Related terms

• margin
• marginalia

Translations

of, relating to, or located at a margin or an edge

• Armenian: լուսանցքային (hy) (lusancʿkʿayin)
• Catalan: marginal (ca)
• Finnish: marginaalinen (fi)
• French: marginal (fr), périphérique (fr)
• Galician: marxinal

• Japanese: 隅の (ja) (sumi no), 辺境の (ja) (henkyō no)
• Portuguese: periférico (pt), marginal (pt)
• Spanish: marginal (es)
• Swedish: marginell (sv)

geographically adjacent

• Finnish: rajoittuva
• French: adjacent (fr), limitrophe (fr), voisin (fr)
• Japanese: 辺境の (ja) (henkyō no)

• Portuguese: fronteiriço (pt), adjacente (pt)
• Spanish: fronterizo (es), adyacente (es)

written in the margin of a book

• Armenian: լուսանցքային (hy) (lusancʿkʿayin)
• Bulgarian: написан на полето (napisan na poleto)
• Finnish: reuna- (fi) (such as reunahuomautus)
• French: marginal (fr)

• Japanese: 隅の (ja) (sumi no)
• Spanish: marginal (es)

at the lower extent of a standard

• Finnish: välttävä (fi)
• French: médiocre (fr)

• Japanese: ぎりぎりの (ja) (girigiri no)
• Spanish: inferior (es)

of land that is barely productive

• Finnish: huonotuottoinen
• French: pauvre (fr)

• Spanish: baldío

where the winning margin was a small proportion of the total number of votes

• Finnish: vaa’ankieli- (fi)

economics: pertaining to unit changes

• Finnish: raja- (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} هامش‎

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} marginaal (nl)

Noun

marginal (plural marginals)

1. Something or somebody that is marginal.
   • 1990, Elizabeth B. Lee, Sociology For People: A Caring Profession (page 110)

     […] discusses those who belong to the discipline's dominant cults, the mainliners, and their relations with the marginals and mavericks.

2. (politics) A constituency won with a small margin.

Translations

something that is marginal

• Bulgarian: маргинал (bg) m (marginal)

• Finnish: marginaali (fi)

constituency won with a small margin

Anagrams

• alarming

---

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /məɾ.ʒiˈnal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /mər.ʒiˈnal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /maɾ.d͡ʒiˈnal/

Adjective

marginal (masculine and feminine plural marginals)

1. marginal
   • 2016 December 1, “Alep: La batalla que va decidir el curs de la guerra a Síria”, in El Periódico‎^[1]:

     Ara, els EUA juguen un paper marginal en el conflicte.

     Now, the US plays a marginal role in the conflict.

Related terms

• marge

Further reading

• “marginal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

---

French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin marginalis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʁ.ʒi.nal/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: marginale, marginales

Adjective

marginal (feminine singular marginale, masculine plural marginaux, feminine plural marginales)

1. Written in the margin of a book; marginal
2. Of, relating to, or located at a margin or an edge; marginal
3. Outside the mainstream; fringe, fringy
4. Of lesser importance; secondary

Derived terms

• coût marginal

 

Noun

marginal m (plural marginaux)

1. A person that chose to live on the fringes of society; dropout, misfit

Further reading

• “marginal” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

---

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

marginal (not comparable)

1. marginal

Declension

Declension of marginal

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist marginal	sie ist marginal	es ist marginal	sie sind marginal
strong declension (without article)	nominative	marginaler	marginale	marginales	marginale
	genitive	marginalen	marginaler	marginalen	marginaler
	dative	marginalem	marginaler	marginalem	marginalen
	accusative	marginalen	marginale	marginales	marginale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der marginale	die marginale	das marginale	die marginalen
	genitive	des marginalen	der marginalen	des marginalen	der marginalen
	dative	dem marginalen	der marginalen	dem marginalen	den marginalen
	accusative	den marginalen	die marginale	das marginale	die marginalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein marginaler	eine marginale	ein marginales	(keine) marginalen
	genitive	eines marginalen	einer marginalen	eines marginalen	(keiner) marginalen
	dative	einem marginalen	einer marginalen	einem marginalen	(keinen) marginalen
	accusative	einen marginalen	eine marginale	ein marginales	(keine) marginalen

Further reading

• “marginal” in Duden online

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin marginalis

Adjective

marginal (neuter singular marginalt, definite singular and plural marginale)

1. marginal

References

• “marginal” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

---

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin marginalis

Adjective

marginal (neuter singular marginalt, definite singular and plural marginale)

1. marginal

References

• “marginal” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

---

Portuguese

Etymology

From Medieval Latin marginālis.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mɐɾ.ʒi.ˈnaɫ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /maɾ.ʒi.ˈnaw/
• Hyphenation: mar‧gi‧nal

Adjective

marginal m or f (plural marginais, comparable)

1. marginal

Noun

marginal m, f (plural marginais)

1. someone who rejects society's customs and laws (often referring to a criminal)

---

Romanian

Etymology

From French marginal.

Adjective

marginal m or n (feminine singular marginală, masculine plural marginali, feminine and neuter plural marginale)

1. marginal

Declension

Declension of marginal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	marginal		marginală	marginali	marginale
	definite	marginalul		marginala	marginalii	marginalele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	marginal		marginale	marginali	marginale
	definite	marginalului		marginalei	marginalilor	marginalelor

---

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maɾxiˈnal/, [maɾ.xiˈnal]

Adjective

marginal (plural marginales)

1. marginal

Derived terms

• callosomarginal
• mar marginal
• marginalmente
• septomarginal

Related terms

• margen

Further reading

• “marginal” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

---

Swedish

Noun

marginal c

1. a margin

Declension

Declension of marginal
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	marginal	marginalen	marginaler	marginalerna
Genitive	marginals	marginalens	marginalers	marginalernas

Related terms

• marginalisera
• marginell