From Middle English frenge, from Old French frenge, from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, a metathesis of Latin fimbriae, of uncertain origin.

• (America, RP) IPA: /fɹɪnd͡ʒ/

fringe (plural fringes)

1. A decorative border.

   the fringe of a picture

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC ↗, page 118 ↗:

     The walls were hung with blue silk, edged with silver fringe; and the closely-drawn blue velvet curtains swept the ground.

   1. (by extension) A border or edging.
2. (also, figurative) A marginal or peripheral part.

   Synonyms: edge, periphery

   • 1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC ↗:

     the confines of grace and the fringes of repentance

3. A group of people situated on the periphery of a larger community.
   1. (also, attributive) Those members of a political party, or any social group, holding extremist or unorthodox views.

      a fringe group of the party

4. The periphery of an area, especially a town or city.

   Synonyms: outskirts

   He lives on the fringe of London.

   1. (AU) Used attributively with reference to Aboriginal people living on the edge of towns etc.
5. (UK) Synonym of bangs: hair hanging over the forehead, especially a hairstyle where it is cut straight across.

   Her fringe is so long it covers her eyes.

   • 1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “Chapter LXXXVIII”, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC ↗:

     In a few minutes Mrs. Athelny appeared. She had taken her hair out of the curling pins and now wore an elaborate fringe.

   • 1981, Hilda Doolittle, HERmione‎^{[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=sEYoDGLk5sEC&pg=PA155&dq=%22fringe%22%7C%22fringes%22+hair+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GFVYT42BG46WmQWrmthI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22fringe%22%7C%22fringes%22%20hair%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false]}, page 155:

     Fayne in the photograph had a fringe, hair frizzed over hidden ears, sleeves over-ornate, the whole thing out of keeping.

   • 2007, Lauraine Snelling, Sophie's Dilemma‎^{[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=8hm9rJAXNK0C&pg=PA16&dq=%22fringe%22%7C%22fringes%22+hair+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5FhYT7W-AYvjmAXyts2YDw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22fringe%22%7C%22fringes%22%20hair%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false]}, page 16:

     Ingeborg knew she wasn′t ready for fringes or short hair like some of the women she′d seen, and she hoped her daughter wasn′t either.
     “No.” Astrid′s tone dismissed Sophie and the fringe as she galloped off to a new topic.

6. (physics) A light or dark band formed by the diffraction of light.

   interference fringe

7. Non-mainstream theatre.

   The Fringe

   Edinburgh Fringe

   Adelaide Fringe

8. (botany) The peristome or fringe-like appendage of the capsules of most mosses.
9. (golf) The area around the green
10. (television, radio) A daypart that precedes or follows prime time.

• French: frange
• German: Franse, Saum, Einfassung
• Italian: frangia
• Portuguese: borda, franja, orla
• Russian: бахрома́
• Spanish: orla

• French: périphérie
• German: Rand, Peripherie
• Italian: periferia
• Portuguese: periferia
• Russian: перифе́рия

• French: radicaux
• German: Randgruppe, Rand
• Italian: radicale
• Portuguese: radical, extremista
• Spanish: extremista, radical

• French: périphérie
• German: Randbezirk, Randgebiet, Peripherie
• Italian: periferia
• Portuguese: periferia
• Russian: перифери́я
• Spanish: periferia

• German: Pony, Stirnfranse

• French: frange (d'interférence)
• Italian: frangia
• Russian: полоса́

• French: théâtre alternatif, théâtre d'avant-garde
• Italian: teatro di nicchia

fringe

1. Outside the mainstream.

   Synonyms: alternative, nonmainstream, fringy

• French: marginal
• German: Rand
• Italian: marginale, di nicchia, secondario
• Portuguese: marginal
• Russian: маргинальный
• Spanish: marginal, contracorriente

fringe (fringes, present participle fringing; simple past and past participle fringed)

1. (transitive) To decorate with fringe.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XV, page 24 ↗:

     […] yonder cloud
     That rises upward always higher,
     ⁠And onward drags a labouring breast,
     ⁠And topples round the dreary west,
     A looming bastion fringed with fire.

2. (transitive) To serve as a fringe.
   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 2, in Jacob's Room:

     Purple bonnets fringed soft, pink, querulous faces on pillows in bath chairs.

• French: franger
• Italian: decorare con una frangia, decorare con frange
• Russian: окантовать
• Spanish: orlar

• Italian: fungere da frangia
• Russian: окаймлять