Origin: Latin suffix -al
Marginal has 7 different meanings across 1 category:
Something that is marginal.
"The company's profits were so marginal that they barely covered their operating expenses."
In plain English: A marginal person is someone who lives on the edge of society and has very little connection to it.
"The marginal profit from selling those extra units was too small to cover our expenses."
of questionable or minimal quality
"borderline grades"
"marginal writing ability"
Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge).
"The marginal notes in the old book were written by someone who had added them while reading on the very edges of the pages."
Written in the margin of a book.
"The professor's notes were written in the margin of the student's textbook."
In plain English: Marginal means being on the edge or border of something, often referring to small amounts that are not very important.
"The changes to the law were so marginal that they went unnoticed by most people."
Usage: Use "marginal" when referring to something situated on an edge, such as text written beside main content or data with minimal impact. Avoid confusing it with words like "minor," which emphasizes smallness rather than peripheral location or insignificance.
The word marginal was borrowed into English from Medieval Latin as an adjective meaning "pertaining to the edge." It traveled directly from that earlier form without a significant shift in its core sense of relating to margins or borders.