marginal

English · Español · Français · Deutsch · Português · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

marginal

/ˈmɑː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/ UK
/ˈmɑɹ.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/ Canada, US
/ˈmɐː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/ Australia

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin marginālis, equivalent to margin + -al.

adjective more marginal · most marginal

not comparable, usually 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.
not comparable, usually Written in the margin of a book. There were more marginal notes than text.
not comparable, usually Sharing a border; geographically adjacent. Monmouthshire is a Welsh county marginal to England.
comparable, not comparable, usually 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.
comparable, not comparable, usually, of land Barely productive. He farmed his marginal land with difficulty.
Australia, New Zealand, UK, comparable, not comparable, usually 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.
not comparable, usually Pertaining to changes resulting from a unit increase in production or consumption of a good.
not comparable, usually Marginalized. The caseworker couldn't understand how I could have stretched out my last bit of money for so long. She seemed convinced that I was "hiding" income from her and interrogated me for I don't know how long. […] The system seems based on the assumption that people are "welfare cheats." If you don't spea

noun marginals

Something or somebody that is marginal. […] discusses those who belong to the discipline's dominant cults, the mainliners, and their relations with the marginals and mavericks.
A constituency won with a small margin.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: peripheral, edge, borderline, narrow, fringy, minimum, minimal, bare, fringe, meagerly, meager, unprofitable, hardscrabble, meagre, margin, longitudinal

Translations

Every language

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

Español	marginal
日本語	隅の sumi no, 辺境の henkyō no
中文	边际的 biānjì de, 边缘的 biānyuán de
Português	periférico, marginal
Français	marginal, périphérique

adj written in the margin of a book

Español	marginal
日本語	隅の sumi no
Français	marginal

adj geographically adjacent

Español	fronterizo, adyacente
日本語	辺境の henkyō no
中文	边界的 biānjiè de, 边境的 biānjìng de
Português	fronteiriço, adjacente
Français	adjacent, limitrophe, voisin

adj at the lower extent of a standard

Español	inferior
日本語	ぎりぎりの girigiri no
Français	médiocre

adj of land that is barely productive

Español	baldío
Français	pauvre

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"marginal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/marginal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

marginal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/marginal

Chicago

"marginal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/marginal.

BibTeX

@misc{marginal_2026,
  title = {marginal},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/marginal},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}