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margin

noun · verb

Simple meaning

The yield or profit.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

mahrjuhn

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmɑɹdʒən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. finance

    The yield or profit; the selling price minus the cost of production.

  2. finance

    Collateral security deposited with a broker, to compensate the broker in the event of loss in the speculative buying and selling of stocks, commodities, etc.

  3. A difference or ratio between results, characteristics, scores.

  4. figuratively

    The edge defining inclusion in or exclusion from a set or group.

  5. A permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within limits

  6. The edge or border of any flat surface.

verb

  1. transitive

    To add a margin to.

  2. transitive

    To enter (notes etc.) into the margin.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Collateral security deposited with a broker, to compensate the broker in the event of loss in the speculative buying and selling of stocks, commodities, etc.

Used this way, margin is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a financial use: it has a settled meaning in accounting and business, where precision matters more than colour.

Emotional tone
Slightly negative
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Critical or judgemental
Usage feel
Clinical and detached

Where it naturally appears

  • Finance/economics
  • Business/professional

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use margin

  • “He jotted a note in the margin.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Edge

left margin

Yield

profit margin

Difference

contribution margin

Other combinations

narrow margincostal marginposterior marginanterior marginwide margin

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • marginallyadverbDerived adverb

    In a marginal manner.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • margin accountnounCompound term

    An account with a securities brokerage in which the broker extends credit.

  • margin callnounCompound term

    A demand by a broker that a customer deposit enough to bring his margin up to the minimum requirement.

  • margin of errornounCompound term

    The margin required in order to insure safety.

  • margin of profitnounCompound term

    The ratio gross profits divided by net sales.

  • margin of safetynounCompound term

    The margin required in order to insure safety.

  • narrow marginnounCompound term

    A small margin.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.