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

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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

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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

Unlike Netanyahu, who comes from an elite family and whose father was a prominent professor in the United States, Eisenkot is the son of Moroccan Jews, and grew up on Israel's geographic periphery.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

If humanity doesn’t exist on a binary, perhaps the emphasis shouldn’t always be on trying to see eye to eye; otherwise, no one can take a clear look at what’s happening in the periphery.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

Thankfully, violence has been pushed to the periphery of most societies to a degree ancient and medieval people never conceived possible.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

European car companies have increasingly been pushed to the periphery.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

“I don’t know,” I say, the possibilities firing in my head, though most of them involve Dennis, and now even Jack, the two of them watching the blaze from the periphery.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

The return of great-power rivalries, and the perennial challenge of disorder from peripheries beyond government control, has made that task a priority again.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025

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

He was a great pope, a really great pope of my era, especially the way he reached out to the peripheries, which reaffirmed the ministry I had of reaching outside of the church.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 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

There are moments when the human brain refuses to receive communication from its peripheries, and the rapidity of thought becomes so slow that it can be measured by minutes.

From The Hand in the Dark by Arthur J. (Arthur John) Rees

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Related Words

• brink
• fringe
• perimeter
• rim
• verge

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