US /pəˈɹɪf(ə)ɹ(ə)l/ UK /pəˈɹɪf(ə)ɹ(ə)l/
adj noun Freq #26656

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    situated near the edge or outer part of something

    The injury affected peripheral tissue rather than the central structure.

  2. 2
    adj

    secondary or not central to the main issue

    The committee treated that concern as peripheral to the decision.

  3. 3
    noun

    a device connected to a computer, such as a keyboard, printer, or external drive

    The operating system detected the new peripheral.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · situated near the edge or... outermarginal
2 adj · secondary or not central to... secondaryincidental
3 noun · a device connected to a... peripheral device
Word family
Derived forms centroperipheralentoperipheralepiperipheralmidperipheralnonperipheralperipheraliseperipheralismperipheralistperipheralityperipheralizeperipherallyperipheralness
Related forms periphery

Etymology

From periphery + -al. Periphery came through French and Latin from Greek periphereia ("circumference"), from peri- ("around") + pherein ("to carry").

Topics

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