fringe
pronunciation
How to pronounce fringe in British English:
UK [frɪndʒ]
How to pronounce fringe in American English:
US [frɪndʒ]
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- Noun:
- the outside boundary or surface of something
- a part of the city far removed from the center
- a social group holding marginal or extreme views
- edging consisting of hanging threads or tassels
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- Verb:
- adorn with a fringe
- decorate with or as if with a surrounding fringe
Word Origin
- fringe
- fringe: [14] Late Latin fimbria meant ‘fibre, thread’ (it is used in modern English as an anatomical term for a threadlike structure, such as the filaments at the opening of the Fallopian tube). In the plural it was applied to a ‘fringe’, and eventually this meaning fed back into the singular. In Vulgar Latin fimbria, by the soundreversal process known as metathesis, became *frimbia, which passed into Old French as fringe or frenge – source of the English word.
- fringe (n.)
- early 14c., "ornamental bordering; material for a fringe," from Old French frenge "thread, strand, fringe, hem, border" (early 14c.), from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, metathesis of Late Latin fimbria, from Latin fimbriae (plural) "fibers, threads, fringe," which is of uncertain origin. Meaning "a border, edge" is from 1640s. Figurative sense of "outer edge, margin," is first recorded 1894. As an adjective by 1809. Related: Fringes. Fringe benefits is recorded from 1952.
- fringe (v.)
- late 15c., "decorate with a fringe or fringes," from fringe (n.). Related: Fringed; fringing.
Example
- 1. Polls suggest that many fringe groups may enter parliament .
- 2. The action and the deposits are concentrated on the celtic fringe .
- 3. And so the fringe thesis is adjusted , but not discarded .
- 4. But to pigeonhole the pas as a lunatic fringe would be a mistake .
- 5. You can find it easily in sunny areas of the reef and reef fringe .