Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A line that forms the boundary of an area; a perimeter.
  • noun The outside surface of an object.
  • noun The area along a boundary; the margin. synonym: circumference.
  • noun An area of secondary status or lesser importance.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to a periphery.
  • noun In geom., the circumference of a circle; by extension, the boundary-line of any closed figure; the perimeter.
  • noun The outside or superficial parts of a body; the surface generally.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The outside or superficial portions of a body; the surface.
  • noun (Geom.) The circumference of a circle, ellipse, or other figure.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The outside boundary, parts or surface of something.
  • noun A first-rank administrative division of Greece, subdivided in provinces.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the outside boundary or surface of something

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English periferie, from Medieval Latin periferia, from Late Latin peripherīa, from Greek periphereia, from peripherēs, carrying around : peri-, peri- + pherein, to carry; see bher- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English periferie, from Old French peripherie, from Late Latin peripheria, from Ancient Greek περιφέρεια (periphereia, "the line around the circle, circumference, part of a circle, an arc, the outer surface"), from περιφερής (peripherēs, "moving around, round, circular"), from περιφέρω (peripherō, "I carry around, move around"), from περί (peri) + φέρω (pherō, "I bear, carry").

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Examples

  • Giving something away and earning money on the periphery is the same idea proffered by Wired editor Chris Anderson in his recent best-selling book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price.

    Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead 2010

  • Giving something away and earning money on the periphery is the same idea proffered by Wired editor Chris Anderson in his recent best-selling book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price.

    Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead 2010

  • As we discuss in the September update to our 2010 Global Economic Outlook, the standout performance of the core and Northern European economies, particularly Germany, alongside renewed weakness in the periphery is giving rise to a multispeed recovery.

    Multiple Risks From A Multispeed Eurozone Recovery Elisa Parisi-Capone 2010

  • As we discuss in the September update to our 2010 Global Economic Outlook, the standout performance of the core and Northern European economies, particularly Germany, alongside renewed weakness in the periphery is giving rise to a multispeed recovery.

    Multiple Risks From A Multispeed Eurozone Recovery Elisa Parisi-Capone 2010

  • The point which has fallen from your short periphery is these politicians all make large sums of money.

    Gibbs jumps on Steele report 2009

  • The idea that people are just moving out of the core of their cities to the periphery is now too simplistic.

    Matthew Yglesias » Command and Control 2009

  • Blood flow to the periphery is restored soon after, followed by breathing and then skeletal muscle activity.

    Archive 2004-09-01 2004

  • The villages and small towns - which we call the "periphery" - identify with the south and are alienated from the north.

    Palestine Blogs aggregator 2009

  • As such, the infant mortality rate in the periphery is double that in the country’s center.

    human rights in israel 2008 2008

  • As such, the infant mortality rate in the periphery is double that in the country’s center.

    07 « December « 2008 « Niqnaq 2008

Comments

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  • "After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, but always on the periphery, never within reach."- Twilight, Stephanie Meyer, pg. 68

    November 8, 2010