Meanings
plural peripheries
- The outside boundary, parts or surface of something.
The suburbs are a city's periphery.
2 more examples
Tumor location was concentrated in the macula and superonasal periphery in patients 13.2 months.
2015 January 8, “Spatiotemporal Patterns of Tumor Occurrence in Children with Intraocular Retinoblastoma”, in PLOS ONE, →DOIThe phrase 'Imperial Manila' is used throughout the archipelago to denote the capital-heavy decision-making and the imposition of the will and culture of the political and economic centre on the peripheries.
2018, Balázs Áron Kovács, Peace Infrastructures and State-Building at the Margins, Springer, →ISBN, page 280 - grammarThe more anomalous and infrequent aspects of a language, as opposed to the frequent and regular core aspects.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*per-
- Ancient Greekπερί (perí)
- Ancient Greekπερῐ- (perĭ-)
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰer-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰéreti
- Proto-Hellenic*pʰérō
- Ancient Greekφέρω (phérō)
- Ancient Greekπεριφέρω (periphérō)
- Ancient Greekπεριφερής (peripherḗs)
- Ancient Greekπεριφέρεια (periphéreia)
- Latinperipheria
- Middle Frenchperipherie
- Englishperiphery
Borrowed from Middle French peripherie. Compare Middle English periferie (“one of three layers of atmosphere (lower, middle, and upper) believed to surround the Earth”), from the same origin, although the Modern English term most likely does not descend from it.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek περιφέρεια
- περιφέρεια (periphéreia)outside boundary, parts or surface
Basque periferia, kanpoalde
- periferiaoutside boundary, parts or surface
- kanpoaldeoutside boundary, parts or surface
- inguruoutside boundary, parts or surface
Bulgarian периферия
- периферия (periferija)outside boundary, parts or surface
Catalan perifèria, perifèria
- perifèriaoutside boundary, parts or surface
- perifèriaGreek administrative region
Chinese Mandarin 周邊 /周边, 外圍 /外围
- 周邊 /周边 (zhōubiān)outside boundary, parts or surface
- 外圍 /外围 (wàiwéi)outside boundary, parts or surface
Czech okraj
- okrajoutside boundary, parts or surface
Danish periferi, udkant
- periferioutside boundary, parts or surface
- udkantoutside boundary, parts or surface
Dutch periferie, buitenkant
- periferieoutside boundary, parts or surface
- buitenkantoutside boundary, parts or surface
Finnish syrjäseutu
- syrjäseutuoutside boundary, parts or surface
French périphérie
- périphérieoutside boundary, parts or surface
German Peripherie
- Peripherieoutside boundary, parts or surface
Greek περιφέρεια, περιφέρεια
- περιφέρεια (periféreia)outside boundary, parts or surface
- περιφέρεια (periféreia)Greek administrative region
Hungarian periféria
- perifériaoutside boundary, parts or surface
Indonesian pinggir, ujung
- pinggiroutside boundary, parts or surface
- ujungoutside boundary, parts or surface
- tepioutside boundary, parts or surface
Italian periferia
- periferiaoutside boundary, parts or surface
Japanese 周辺
- 周辺 (shūhen)outside boundary, parts or surface
Polish obrzeże, kraniec
- obrzeżeoutside boundary, parts or surface
- kraniecoutside boundary, parts or surface
- skrajoutside boundary, parts or surface
- peryferieoutside boundary, parts or surface
- kresyoutside boundary, parts or surface
- pograniczeoutside boundary, parts or surface
Portuguese periferia, periferia
- periferiaoutside boundary, parts or surface
- periferiaGreek administrative region
Romanian periferie
- periferieoutside boundary, parts or surface
Russian перифери́я, окра́ина
- перифери́я (periferíja)outside boundary, parts or surface
- окра́ина (okráina)outside boundary, parts or surface
- перифери́я (periferíja)Greek administrative region
Scottish Gaelic iomall
- iomalloutside boundary, parts or surface
Spanish periferia
- periferiaoutside boundary, parts or surface
Turkish çevre, dolay
- çevreoutside boundary, parts or surface
- dolayoutside boundary, parts or surface
- etrafoutside boundary, parts or surface
- civaroutside boundary, parts or surface
- periferioutside boundary, parts or surface
- periferiGreek administrative region
Ukrainian перифері́я, перифері́я
- перифері́я (peryferíja)outside boundary, parts or surface
- перифері́я (peryferíja)Greek administrative region
Cite this entry
periphery. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/periphery
“periphery.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/periphery. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “periphery,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/periphery.
Source: periphery on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.