Definition of: margin

(mär′jin) noun
1. A bounding line; border; verge; brink; edge.
2. An allowance, provision, or reservation for contingencies or changes, as of time or money.
3. Range or scope; provision for increase or progress.
4. The difference between the cost of an article and its selling price.
5. A sum of money or other security deposited with a broker to protect him against loss in buying and selling for his principal; also, the difference in value between the security and the loan.
6. The difference between price and cost of production; in the adjustment of the relations of capital and labor, the minimum profit which will enable an undertaking to continue active.
7. The part of a page left blank around the body of printed or written text.
—v.t.
1. To furnish with a margin; form a margin or border to; border.
2. To enter, place, or specify on the margin of a page, as a note or comment.
3. In commerce, to deposit a margin upon; hold by giving an addition to or a deposit upon a margin. [<L margo, -inis. Akin to MARK¹, MARCH².] Synonyms (noun): beach, border, boundary, brim, brink, confines, edge, limit, lip, marge, shore, skirt, verge. See BANK, BOUNDARY.