margin

American  

[mahr-jin] / ˈmɑr dʒɪn /

noun

• margins
  plural

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.

3. 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.

   Synonyms:

   bound, confine

4. a border or edge.

   Synonyms:

   brink, verge, rim

   Antonyms:

   center

5. Philately. selvage.

6. Finance.

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

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

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

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

9. an amount or degree of difference.

   The measure passed by a margin of just three votes.

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

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

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verb (used with object)

1. to provide with a margin or border.

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

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

4. Finance. to deposit a margin upon.

5. Stock Exchange. to purchase (securities) on margin.

   That stock was heavily margined during the last month.

margin British  

/ 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

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

4. an additional amount or one beyond the minimum necessary

   a margin of error

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

6. a bound or limit

7. the amount by which one thing differs from another

   a large margin separated the parties

8. commerce the profit on a transaction

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

10. finance

    1. collateral deposited by a client with a broker as security

    2. the excess of the value of a loan's collateral over the value of the loan

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verb

1. to provide with a margin; border

2. finance to deposit a margin upon

Synonym Usage

See edge.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• margins
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of margin

1300–50; Middle English < Latin margin- (stem of margō ) border; akin to march ²

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Explanation

An amount beyond the minimum necessary is called the margin. If you sell craft items, you need to build in a profit margin so that you actually make money on the sale. You'll go broke if you sell mittens for $10 that cost you $15 to make. The blank space around the edges of a sheet of paper — as with the page of a book — that surrounds the text is called the margin. It serves a few purposes: (1) The paper can be bound into a book without covering up the words; (2) If you are a teacher, student, or editor, you can make comments or notes in the margin. (3) If you're bored in class, you can doodle there.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

margin margins

But despite scoring six tries and winning by a 30-point margin, Farrell was left wanting more.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

An operating margin of C$6.94 billion was 8% higher than the analyst expected and adjusted funds flow of C$5.52 billion 9% higher.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

The increase in supply will eventually drive down the cost of memory, Kaplan said, and lead to erosion of earnings or gross margin, which is a measure of profitability.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026

There were 7,875 votes against the measure and 6,487 for it as of Thursday — a margin of 1,388 votes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

While the rest of the class shares their acrostics, I write a new one in the margin of my notebook, shielding it with my arm so no one can see.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

That transition is dragging on margins and “will leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouth for a while,” the analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Hand-wringing over unusually high and rising profit margins has been a recurring theme among some more pessimistic strategists over the years, but it seems timely.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

Higher prices for memory components and other materials weighed on its handset profit margins, while the torrid growth of its data-center business was not quite torrid enough to compensate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

Yet charities are no longer operating on the margins of the system, either.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

The sumbook was opened, spine cracked, pencil marks in the margins, surrounded by a scattering of paper.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

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Related Words

• edge
• limit
• surplus

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