Periphery

Pronunciation

[puh-rif-uh-ree]

Noun

plural -er⋅ies.

1. the external boundary of any surface or area.

2. the external surface of a body.

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.

Origin

1350–1400; < LL peripherīa < Gk periphéreia circumference, lit., a bearing round, equiv. to peri- peri- + phér(ein) to bear 1 + -eia -y 3 ; r. ME periferie < ML periferīa, var. sp. of LL peripherīa

Synonyms

1. circumference, perimeter.

Antonyms

1. center.