Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A line that forms the boundary of an area; a perimeter. See Synonyms at circumference.
- n. The surface of a solid.
- n. The outermost part or region within a precise boundary.
- n. A zone constituting an imprecise boundary.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In geom., the circumference of a circle; by extension, the boundary-line of any closed figure; the perimeter.
- n. The outside or superficial parts of a body; the surface generally.
- Pertaining to a periphery.
Wiktionary
- n. The outside boundary, parts or surface of something.
- n. A first-rank administrative division of Greece, subdivided in provinces.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The outside or superficial portions of a body; the surface.
- n. (Geom.) The circumference of a circle, ellipse, or other figure.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the outside boundary or surface of something
Etymologies
- 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"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English periferie, from Medieval Latin periferia, from Late Latin peripherīa, from Greek periphereia, from peripherēs, carrying around : peri-, peri- + pherein, to carry. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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.”
“The idea that people are just moving out of the core of their cities to the periphery is now too simplistic.”
“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.”
“The point which has fallen from your short periphery is these politicians all make large sums of money.”
“Blood flow to the periphery is restored soon after, followed by breathing and then skeletal muscle activity.”
“The villages and small towns - which we call the "periphery" - identify with the south and are alienated from the north.”
“As such, the infant mortality rate in the periphery is double that in the country’s center.”
“Italy has so far avoided being swept up in the debt crisis that has hit the so-called periphery nations, those with lower growth and high public debt such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.”
USA Today: Italy rating outlook is stable, Fitch, Moody's say
“Still, aiding the periphery is a tough sell in Germany, which went through a series of reforms last decade to improve its competitiveness and expects its southern neighbors to do the same.”
“That transfer of cash from "core" Europe to the periphery is a baby step towards a common fiscal policy.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘periphery’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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G[r]eek
A collection of words found in English that are either purely Greek or have Greek etymology.
Please add with caution and certainty. Will be regularly updated by me.etymology, philosophy, laconic, disharmony, patriarchic, archaic, phlogiston, aether, aeon, angel, arachnid, rhythm and 346 more...
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Unknown
coalition, cabinet, tweet, defuse, steep, ancestral, mindset, breach, infraction, egregious, curb, backbite and 282 more...
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AGRI - sustainable agriculture
abiota, aborigines, absorptive capacity, acceptable daily ..., acclimation, acid precipitation, acquired by weeds..., active solar heating, acute, adaptation, additives, aerosol and 447 more...
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Thresholds
we are all just passing through.
(boundaries, portals and liminal spaces/times)cockcrow, interface, thin line, portal, postern, littoral, portico, porch, stoop, strand, liminal, limen and 304 more...
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REGI - urban development
urban planning, urban redevelopment, legal base, metropolitan area, periphery, strategic plan, neighborhood plan, regulatory and in..., slums, decay, suburbanization, urbanization and 467 more...
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Lyeneia's Field Journal
footnotes and add-ons from the gap-lands.
limey, apostate, conflagrate, kindle, dispossess, provenience, reckless malice, honking didactica..., consequential exi..., morainal, morae, compass and 28 more...
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peri-
round or about; nearest
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kingofbash's Words
bash, poleaxed, salacious, libertine, charlatan, aplomb, fortuitous, finagle, apoplectic, debutante, carte blanche, aardvark and 472 more...
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everythingecstatic's Words
cadence, frenetic, eloquence, paradigm, nocturne, elusive, effervescence, soliloquy, plethora, elision, aqueous, transcend and 166 more...
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hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
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nail01
sentimental, eloquent, inevitable, pretentious, verbose, aptly, stoically, grandiloquent, valedictory, assiduous, exorbitant, wreaked and 154 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Dain's Words
rabble, terminus, archaic, atavism, demiurge, waylay, syzygy, jocoserious, quark, entropy, cinnabar, shamble and 912 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL P
pacifistic, pacify, palatable, palaver, palliate, pallid, palpable, pamper, panacea, pandemic, pandemonium, panegyric and 209 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for periphery.

dmcleod0914 "After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, but always on the periphery, never within reach."- Twilight, Stephanie Meyer, pg. 68 Nov 8, 2010