margin

From Middle English margyn, from Latin marginem (possibly via Old French margin), accusative of margō (“edge, brink, border, margin”). Doublet of marge and margo.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːd͡ʒɪn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːɹd͡ʒ(ə)n/

  • Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)d͡ʒɪn

margin (plural margins)

1. (typography) The edge of the paper, typically left blank when printing but sometimes used for annotations etc.
2. The edge or border of any flat surface.
   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎^[1]:

     Nothing could be more business-like than the construction of the stout dams, and nothing more gently rural than the limpid lakes, with the grand old forest trees marshalled round their margins like a veteran army that had marched down to drink, only to be stricken motionless at the water’s edge.

   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 7:

     The lobule margins, furthermore, are arched away from the lobe, with the consequence that (when fully inflated) the abaxial leaf surface forms the interior lining of the lobule.

3. (figuratively) The edge defining inclusion in or exclusion from a set or group.
   • 1999, Pierre François, Inlets of the Soul: Contemporary Fiction in English and the Myth of the Fall, page 186:

     As far as space is concerned, Mary Lamb finds herself at the farthest margin of society - among tramps - when the novel begins.

5. A difference or ratio between results, characteristics, scores.

   margin of victory

   • 2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     Chelsea will point to that victory margin as confirmation of their superiority - but Spurs will complain their hopes of turning the game around were damaged fatally by Atkinson's decision.

   • 2017 March 9, James P. Pinkerton, “A Deus ex Machina for the Climate Change Problem”, in The American Conservative‎^[3]:

     in Kentucky, for example, Trump beat Hillary Clinton by a nearly two-to-one margin

6. A permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits.

   margin of error

7. (finance) The yield or profit; the selling price minus the cost of production.
8. (finance) Collateral security deposited with a broker, to compensate the broker in the event of loss in the speculative buying and selling of stocks, commodities, etc.
   • 1848, William Armstrong, Stocks and Stock-Jobbing in Wall-Street:

     The purchaser then hands over this margin to the person with whom he hypothecates the Stock.

   • 2017, Joe Duarte, Trading Options For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 140:

     If you borrow from your broker via trading on margin, you need to add monthly margin interest charges to your trading costs as well.

9. That which is ancillary; periphery.

   This model merely nips at the margins.

• → Cantonese: 孖展 (maa¹ zin²)
• → Korean: 마진 (majin)

margin (third-person singular simple present margins, present participle margining, simple past and past participle margined)

1. (transitive) To add a margin to.
2. (transitive) To enter (notes etc.) into the margin.
3. (transitive, finance) To trade (securities etc.) on margin (collateral).
   • 2011, Richard Lehman, Lawrence G. McMillan, Options for Volatile Markets, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 90:

     This sounds easy, but bear in mind that margined portfolios decline faster than cash portfolios in a bear market.

• “margin”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “margin”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• Ingram, Maring, arming, raming

Borrowed from English margin, from Middle English margyn, from Latin marginem (possibly via Old French margin), accusative of margō (“edge, brink, border, margin”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmar.ɡɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɡɪn, -ɪn
• Hyphenation: mar‧gin

margin (plural margin-margin, first-person possessive marginku, second-person possessive marginmu, third-person possessive marginnya)

1. margin:
   1. edge

      Synonyms: batas, tepi

   2. a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits.
   3. the yield or profit; the selling price minus the cost of production.
   4. (finance) collateral security deposited with a broker, to compensate the broker in the event of loss in the speculative buying and selling of stocks, commodities, etc.

• marjin

• “margin” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

From Latin margo.

margin m (definite singular marginen, indefinite plural marginer, definite plural marginene)

1. a margin (most senses)

• marg

• feilmargin

• “margin” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Latin margo.

margin m (definite singular marginen, indefinite plural marginar, definite plural marginane)

1. a margin (most senses)

• marg

• feilmargin

• “margin” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.