marginal
B2Formal, Academic, Business, Technical
Definition
Meaning
Relating to or situated at the edge or margin; of secondary or minor importance.
Relating to small or incremental changes; barely exceeding a minimum standard; (politics) describing a constituency with a small majority, hence highly competitive.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Can denote physical position (edge), degree of importance (minor), or incremental analysis (economics).
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
In UK politics, 'marginal seat' is a highly common term; US uses 'swing district' more frequently. In economics, usage is identical.
Connotations
In British academic writing, slightly more frequent due to political discourse.
Frequency
Slightly higher frequency in UK English corpora, primarily due to political context.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[marginal] + nounverb + [marginal]of + [marginal] + importanceVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “on the margins”
- “a marginal call”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Refers to costs or profits associated with producing one more unit.
Academic
Used in economics, sociology, and political science to denote analysis at the edge or of small changes.
Everyday
Describes something very small or barely noticeable.
Technical
In mathematics/statistics, refers to a variable summed over in a distribution.
Examples
By Part of Speech
adjective
British English
- The marginal constituencies will decide the election.
- He made only a marginal contribution to the project.
American English
- The marginal tax rate affects high earners.
- There was a marginal increase in temperatures this week.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- She wrote a marginal note in her book.
- The difference in quality was marginal, so I chose the cheaper option.
- The marginal cost of producing one more unit fell as efficiency improved.
- The study focused on the marginal utility of additional income for households in poverty.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a page: the MARGIN is at the edge, so MARGINAL things are at the edge of importance.
Conceptual Metaphor
IMPORTANCE IS CENTRALITY (thus, marginal = less important).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'незначительный' in all contexts; for physical position, use 'крайний', 'находящийся на краю'.
- In economics, 'предельный' is the correct equivalent for 'marginal cost' (предельные издержки).
Common Mistakes
- Using 'marginal' to mean 'average' (e.g., 'the marginal salary' instead of 'the average salary').
- Overusing in place of 'small' or 'slight' where no sense of 'edge' or 'threshold' exists.
Practice
Quiz
In which context does 'marginal' specifically refer to a highly competitive political area?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this is a common meaning, e.g., 'a marginal increase'.
No, 'marginal' is an adjective. 'Marginally' is the adverb, meaning 'to a very small extent'.
It's a note written in the margin of a page.
It describes the change resulting from one additional unit, like 'marginal cost' or 'marginal benefit'.
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