periphery

[ puh-rif-uh-ree ]
See synonyms for periphery on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural pe·riph·er·ies.
  1. the external boundary of any surface or area.

  2. the external surface of a body.

  1. the edge or outskirts, as of a city or urban area.

  2. the relatively minor, irrelevant, or superficial aspects of the subject in question: The preliminary research did not, of course, take me beyond the periphery of my problem.

  3. Anatomy. the area in which nerves end.

Origin of periphery

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Late Latin peripherīa, from Greek periphéreia “circumference,” literally, “a bearing round,” from peri- peri- + phér(ein) “to bear” + -eia -y3; replacing Middle English periferie, from Medieval Latin periferīa, variant spelling of Late Latin peripherīa

Other words for periphery

Opposites for periphery

Words Nearby periphery

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

How to use periphery in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for periphery

periphery

/ (pəˈrɪfərɪ) /


nounplural -eries
  1. the outermost boundary of an area

  2. the outside surface of something

  1. anatomy the surface or outermost part of the body or one of its organs or parts

Origin of periphery

1
C16: from Late Latin peripherīa, from Greek, from peri- + pherein to bear

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