marginal

CEFRC1

/ˈmɑː.d͡ʒɪ.nəl/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Small, slight, or not very important.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge).

Examples

  • The Marginal Tietê expressway has two kilometres of traffic.

  • There is only a marginal difference between the two.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. Written in the margin of a book.

  2. Sharing a border; geographically adjacent.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. Something or somebody that is marginal.

More examples

In context

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

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

  • There were more marginal notes than text.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The candidate had only a blank lead in the polls, so the race was still very close.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

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