Definitions

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

  • noun plural Notes in the margin or margins of a book.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Marginal notes.
  • In sponges, spicules forming a collar round the osculum.

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

  • noun plural Marginal notes.

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

  • noun Notes in the margin of a document.

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

  • noun notes written in the margin

Etymologies

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

[New Latin, neuter pl. of Medieval Latin marginālis, marginal, from Latin margō, margin-, margin; see margin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin, from Medieval Latin neuter plural of marginalis ("on the periphery"), from Latin margo ("border, edge")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word marginalia.

Examples

  • To get a book that has someone else's marginalia is even more special somehow.

    42 entries from November 2007 2007

  • To get a book that has someone else's marginalia is even more special somehow.

    Do you or don't you? 2007

  • To get a book that has someone else's marginalia is even more special somehow.

    Do you or don't you? 2007

  • Suppose the men who deny the good faith of your marginalia are the small-souled creatures you would have us believe they are, they do not make this denial upon their personal responsibility merely; they produce facts.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 08, No. 47, September, 1861 Various

  • Sharp readers will have noticed that, as it's currently designed, the entry's body is the same width as the page's title (700 px), and the marginalia is the same width as the leftmost column we styled earlier (124 px).

    Zach Klein's Universal Feed 2009

  • The center of the projection- a court scene at Camelot- will stay the same as the "marginalia" changes to reflect the changing seasons.

    Your help, gentle readers 2008

  • The center of the projection- a court scene at Camelot- will stay the same as the "marginalia" changes to reflect the changing seasons.

    Archive 2008-11-01 2008

  • The central image is a sort of generic court scene, while the "marginalia" will change to illustrate the changing seasons.

    The Final Stretch 2008

  • The central image is a sort of generic court scene, while the "marginalia" will change to illustrate the changing seasons.

    Archive 2008-12-01 2008

  • "Back in the 19th century historians thought that 'marginalia' simply were the fancy of the artist and that the artist was illiterate," Hunt says.

    NEW BOOK ILLUMINATES MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS 2007

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • This is such a cool site! However, on a picky note, I think the definitions need to include "nonessential information" as that is how many of the examples use it.

    February 20, 2012

  • This word was used in the book "The Name Of The Rose."

    June 9, 2012