Marginalia

//mɑɹd͡ʒɪˈneɪli.ə// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Notes in the margin of a document. plural, plural-normally

    "We know what the composer was thinking as he wrote the piece because we can read his handwritten marginalia on the manuscript."

  2. 2
    notes written in the margin wordnet

Example

More examples

"We know what the composer was thinking as he wrote the piece because we can read his handwritten marginalia on the manuscript."

Etymology

From New Latin marginālia (cf. margināle (neuter singular (adjective / noun)), from Medieval Latin neuter plural of marginālis (“on the periphery”), from Latin margō (“border, edge”). By surface analysis, marginal + -ia. Compare margin.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.