periphery

UK: /pəˈrɪfəri/ US: /pəˈrɪfəri/ ,(pə rif′ə rē)

Inflections of 'periphery' (n): npl: peripheries

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pe•riph•er•y /pəˈrɪfəri/   n. [countable] , pl. -er•ies. 

1. the outside boundary or perimeter of a surface or area;
   the outer limits (of an aspect of social, cultural, or intellectual life):
   His radical positions put him on the periphery of American politics.
2. Anatomy the outside surface of a body.
3. the outskirts of a city or urban area.
4. the less central parts or aspects of a question or problem.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pe•riph•er•y  (pə rif′ə rē), n., pl. -er•ies. 

1. the external boundary of any surface or area.
2. Anatomy 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.

• Medieval Latin periferīa, variant spelling, spelled of Late Latin peripherīa
• Greek periphéreia circumference, literally, a bearing round, equivalent. to peri- peri- + phér(ein) to bear¹ + -eia -y³; replacing Middle English periferie
• Late Latin peripherīa
• 1350–1400

Synonyms

• 1. circumference, perimeter.

Antonyms

• 1, 2. center.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

periphery / pəˈrɪfərɪ/ noun ( -eries)

1. the outermost boundary of an area
2. the outside surface of something

Etymology: 16th Century: from Late Latin peripherīa, from Greek, from peri- + pherein to bear