margin

[ mahr-jin ]
See synonyms for: marginmarginedmarginingmargins on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the space around the printed or written matter on a page.

  2. an amount allowed or available beyond what is actually necessary: to allow a margin for error.

  1. a limit in condition, capacity, etc., beyond or below which something ceases to exist, be desirable, or be possible: the margin of endurance; the margin of sanity.

  2. a border or edge.

  3. Philately. selvage (def. 3).

  4. Finance.

    • security, as a percentage in money, deposited with a broker by a client as a provision against loss on transactions.

    • the amount representing the customer's investment or equity in such an account.

  5. the difference between the amount of a loan and the market value of the collateral pledged as security for it.

  6. Commerce. the difference between the cost and the selling price.

  7. an amount or degree of difference: The measure passed by a margin of just three votes.

  8. Economics. the point at which the return from economic activity barely covers the cost of production, and below which production is unprofitable.

  9. Entomology. the border of an insect's wing.

verb (used with object)
  1. to provide with a margin or border.

  2. to furnish with marginal notes, as a document.

  1. to enter in the margin, as of a book.

  2. Finance. to deposit a margin upon.

  3. Stock Exchange. to purchase (securities) on margin: That stock was heavily margined during the last month.

Origin of margin

1
1300–50; Middle English <Latin margin- (stem of margō) border; akin to march2

synonym study For margin

4. See edge.

Other words for margin

Opposites for margin

Words Nearby margin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use margin in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for margin

margin

archaic margent (ˈmɑːdʒənt)

/ (ˈmɑːdʒɪn) /


noun
  1. an edge or rim, and the area immediately adjacent to it; border

  2. the blank space surrounding the text on a page

  1. a vertical line on a page, esp one on the left-hand side, delineating this space

  2. an additional amount or one beyond the minimum necessary: a margin of error

  3. mainly Australian a payment made in addition to a basic wage, esp for special skill or responsibility

  4. a bound or limit

  5. the amount by which one thing differs from another: a large margin separated the parties

  6. commerce the profit on a transaction

  7. economics the minimum return below which an enterprise becomes unprofitable

  8. finance

    • collateral deposited by a client with a broker as security

    • the excess of the value of a loan's collateral over the value of the loan

verb(tr)
  1. to provide with a margin; border

  2. finance to deposit a margin upon

Origin of margin

1
C14: from Latin margō border; related to march ², mark 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012