marginaal

Marginaal is a term used in several languages, including Estonian and Dutch, that corresponds to the English “marginal” and generally conveys the idea of being at the edge, peripheral, or of lesser importance. Its precise sense depends on the field.

In economics, marginaal describes incremental changes, as in marginal cost, marginal revenue, and marginal utility. The marginal cost of producing one more unit is the change in total cost associated with that unit; marginal revenue is the additional revenue from selling it, and marginal utility is the extra satisfaction gained from consuming an additional unit.

In statistics and probability, marginal refers to the distribution or probability of a single variable, obtained by summing or integrating over the other variables. The marginal distribution provides a summary of that variable regardless of the others.

In sociology, marginalization describes a social process whereby individuals or groups are pushed to the margins of society, resulting in reduced access to resources, power, or recognition.

In linguistics and literature, marginalia are notes or comments written in the margins of texts; while the English term marginal is broader, marginaal-like usage in other languages often covers related notions of edge or periphery. In geography, marginal areas describe peripheral regions at the periphery of a country or region.

Etymology traces marginaal to Latin marginem, meaning boundary or edge, and the term is deployed across disciplines to indicate boundary, edge effects, or peripheral status depending on context.