periphery

American  

[puh-rif-uh-ree] / pəˈrɪf ə ri /

noun

• peripheries
  plural

1. the external boundary of any surface or area.

   Synonyms:

   perimeter, circumference

   Antonyms:

   center

2. the external surface of a body.

   Antonyms:

   center

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

4. 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.

5. Anatomy. the area in which nerves end.

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periphery British  

/ pəˈrɪfərɪ /

noun

1. the outermost boundary of an area

2. the outside surface of something

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• peripheries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of periphery

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 -y ³; replacing Middle English periferie, from Medieval Latin periferīa, variant spelling of Late Latin peripherīa

Explanation

When something is on the periphery of your vision, you can only see it when you’re looking sideways. Periphery means outside the boundary of something. If you’re on the periphery of a group, you’re close to it but not part of it. A band on the periphery of a particular scene might have opened for another band a few times, but it's never headlined or gotten their big break. Periphery comes from a Greek word meaning "to carry around."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

periphery peripheries

European car companies have increasingly been pushed to the periphery.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

To those on the periphery of his world the announcement of his passing was an almighty shock.

From BBC ● May 17, 2026

The museum has physically invalidated the binaries of center and periphery, major and minor arts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026

Navy and Air Force from operating within their extended periphery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026

There are additional jars and bottles around the periphery of the room as well, with some on the ground and some on boxes and tall wooden bookshelves.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Those immediately guarding the president seem to be hardy and quick, but the peripheries of such events are a continuing problem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

During his 12 years as pontiff, Francis visited 68 countries on 47 foreign trips, often choosing destinations on the world's margins, which he described as the Church's "peripheries".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025

In 2016, Francis canonized Argentina’s first saint: José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, a poncho-wearing, mate-sipping “gaucho priest” who ministered in the Argentine peripheries, and was in many ways a 19th-century version of Francis himself.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 9, 2024

The observatory may even find the hypothetical Planet Nine, a large world that some astronomers believe is hiding at the solar system’s peripheries.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 9, 2024

But he did his peripheries well enough to get a repetition of the captivating nod and a Bravo! from the lady.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 52, February, 1862 by Various

Related Words

• brink
• fringe
• perimeter
• rim
• verge