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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

fringe.

A decorative border.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/fɹɪnd͡ʒ/General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. A decorative border.

    the fringe of a picture

  2. A decorative border. A border or edging.

    broadly

  3. A marginal or peripheral part.

    also · figuratively

  4. A group of people situated on the periphery of a larger community.

  5. A group of people situated on the periphery of a larger community. Those members of a political party, or any social group, holding extremist or unorthodox views.

    also · attributive
    a fringe group of the party

  6. The periphery of an area, especially a town or city.

    He lives on the fringe of London.

  7. The periphery of an area, especially a town or city. Used attributively with reference to Aboriginal people living on the edge of towns etc.

    Australia

  8. Synonym of bangs: hair hanging over the forehead, especially a hairstyle where it is cut straight across.

    UK
    Her fringe is so long it covers her eyes.

  9. A light or dark band formed by the diffraction of light.

    interference fringe

  10. Non-mainstream theatre.

    The Fringe
    Edinburgh Fringe

  11. The peristome or fringe-like appendage of the capsules of most mosses.

  12. The area around the green.

  13. A daypart that precedes or follows prime time.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English frenge, from Old French frenge, from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, a metathesis of Latin fimbriae (“fibers, threads, fringe”, plural), of uncertain origin. Compare German Franse and Danish frynse. Displaced native Middle English fnæd (“fringe”), Middle English byrd (“fringe”), Middle English fasel (“fringe”) from Old English fæs (“fringe”), and Old English fnæs (“fringe”). Doublet of fimbria.

adj/fɹɪnd͡ʒ/General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. Outside the mainstream.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English frenge, from Old French frenge, from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, a metathesis of Latin fimbriae (“fibers, threads, fringe”, plural), of uncertain origin. Compare German Franse and Danish frynse. Displaced native Middle English fnæd (“fringe”), Middle English byrd (“fringe”), Middle English fasel (“fringe”) from Old English fæs (“fringe”), and Old English fnæs (“fringe”). Doublet of fimbria.

verb/fɹɪnd͡ʒ/General-American, Received-Pronunciation

  1. To decorate with fringe.

    transitive

  2. To serve as a fringe; to border.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English frenge, from Old French frenge, from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, a metathesis of Latin fimbriae (“fibers, threads, fringe”, plural), of uncertain origin. Compare German Franse and Danish frynse. Displaced native Middle English fnæd (“fringe”), Middle English byrd (“fringe”), Middle English fasel (“fringe”) from Old English fæs (“fringe”), and Old English fnæs (“fringe”). Doublet of fimbria.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.