border

English

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border

Wikipedia

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English bordure, from Old French bordeure, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *bord, equivalent to modern French bord (“a border”) + -er.

Akin to Middle High German borte (“border, trim”), German Borte (“ribbon, trimming”). Doublet of bordure. More at board.

Pronunciation

• (with the horse-hoarse merger)
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔədə/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔːdə/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

  • (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈboɹdɚ/,

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)də(ɹ)
  • Homophone: boarder (with the horse-hoarse merger)

• (without the horse–hoarse merger)
  • (rhotic) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔːɹdɚ/
  • (non-rhotic) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔːdə/

Noun

border (countable and uncountable, plural borders)

1. The line or frontier area separating political or geographical regions.

   The border between Canada and USA is the longest in the world.

   • 1950 January, “Crossing the Border”, in Railway Magazine, page 2:

     The identification of the border between England and Scotland always has been a source of interest to railway travellers. For many years, however, the exact points north of Berwick and Carlisle at which the Anglo-Scottish main lines passed from one country to the other were not defined, but the erection of clear and unmistakable lineside signs has put the matter beyond all doubt.

   • 2013, Nicholas Watt and Nick Hopkins, Afghanistan bomb: UK to 'look carefully' at use of vehicles(in The Guardian, 1 May 2013)

     The Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday the men had been killed on Tuesday in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province, on the border of Kandahar just north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

   • 23 June 2018, Mattha Busb, The Independent, Jogger crosses US-Canada border by mistake, is held for two weeks in detention centre

     A French tourist who accidentally crossed the border into the US from Canada during an evening jog was sent to a detention centre 125 miles away and held for two weeks until she was released.

2. The outer edge of something.

   the borders of the garden

   • 1843, Jeremy Bentham, Principles of Morals and Legislation, Fragment on Government, Civil Code, Penal Law:

     upon the borders of these solitudes

   • a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). The Danger and Mischief of Delaying Reptentance”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. , volumes (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A J Valpy, , published 1830–1831, →OCLC:

     in the borders of death

3. A decorative strip around the edge of something.

   There's a nice frilly border around the picture frame.

   a solid border around a table of figures

4. A strip of ground in which ornamental plants are grown.
5. (UK, uncountable) border morris or border dancing; a vigorous style of traditional English dance originating from villages along the border between England and Wales, performed by a team of dancers usually with their faces disguised with black makeup.
6. (computing) A string that is both a prefix and a suffix of another particular string.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

border (third-person singular simple present borders, present participle bordering, simple past and past participle bordered)

1. (transitive) To put a border on something.
2. (transitive) To form a border around; to bound.
3. (transitive) To lie on, or adjacent to, a border of.

   Denmark borders Germany to the south.

4. (intransitive) To touch at a border (with on, upon, or with).

   Connecticut borders on Massachusetts.

5. (intransitive) To approach; to come near to; to verge (with on or upon).
   • 1671, John Tillotson, “Sermon II. The Folly of Scoffing at Religion. 2 Pet[er] III. 3.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: , 8th edition, London: T. Goodwin, B Tooke, and J. Pemberton, ; J. Round , and J Tonson] , published 1720, →OCLC:

     Wit which borders upon profaneness […] deserves to be branded as folly.

Derived terms

• border on
• cross-border

Translations

Anagrams

• roberd

French

Etymology

From bord +‎ -er, of Germanic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔʁ.de/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

border

1. to border (add a border to)
2. to border (share a border with)
3. to tuck in

Conjugation

Derived terms

• avoir le cul bordé de nouilles

Further reading

• “border”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• broder, rebord

Middle English

Noun

border

1. Alternative form of bourdour

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• bord

Noun

border n

1. indefinite plural of bord

Etymology 2

Noun

border m

1. indefinite plural of bord