▪ I. fringe, n.
(frɪndʒ)
Forms: 4–7 frenge, (5 freny(e, 6 Sc. frenȝe, 6–7 fryi(y)ng, frienge), (7 frindge), 6– fringe.
[ME. frenge, a. OF. frenge (1316 in Douët d'Arcq Comptes de l'Arg. des Rois de France 60), also (Walloon) fringe (mod.Fr. frange) = Pr. fremja, fermja:—popular L. *frimbia, metathetic alteration of class. Lat. fimbria border, fringe. The change of ME. (ɛ) to mod.Eng. (ɪ) before (ndʒ) is normal: cf. hinge, singe.]
1. a. An ornamental bordering, consisting of a narrow band to which are attached threads of silk, cotton, etc., either loose or formed into tassels, twists, etc. (Occas. spec. that worn by the Hebrews in accordance with the command in Num. xv. 38.)
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 598 A sadel, Þat glemed ful gayly with mony golde frenges. 1407 Nottingham Rec. II. 52 Pro uno riben frenge de cirico, xvij d. c 1540 Pilgr. T. 175 in Thynne's Animadv. (1865) App. i, With a blak fryng hemyd al about. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 39 The fringe of your sattin peticote is ript. a 1714 M. Henry Exp. Judges xix. 22 What did it avail them that they had..God's Law in their Fringes, but the Devil in their Hearts. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 70 Another Dutch painter..faithfully imitating the details of lace, embroidery, fringes, and even the threads of stockings. 1861 C. M. Yonge Stokesley Secret ii. (1862) 42 Drab alpaca frocks..not a coloured bow nor handkerchief, not a flounce nor fringe, to relieve them. |
b. collect. A manufactured article of this kind which may be cut into lengths.
| 1327 Wardr. Acc. Edw. III 33/2, 14 uln. frenge, serico nigro, per uln', 3d. 1461–83 Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (Nicolas) 117 For frenge of gold of Venys at vj s. the ounce. 1466 Paston Lett. No. 549 II. 270 For grey lynen cloth and sylk frenge for the hers. 1589 Nottingham Rec. IV. 226 For fustyan and fringe..tryminge vpp of the townes pikes. 1660 Goostrey Churchw. Acc. in Earwaker Sandbach (1890) 248 Pd. for cloth, silke, thread, and frinje, for a pulpit chussin 1 li. 1708 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. iii. iii. (1743) 168 An earl may also have a cloth of State without pendants, but only Fringe. 1814 Jane Austen Mansf. Park II. i. 184 She had..made many yards of fringe. 1815 Jane Taylor Display xiii. 167 Pray do you sell silk fringe? |
2. a. Anything resembling this; a border or edging,
esp. one that is broken or serrated.
| 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. Pref. §11 Little distances neere the centre make larger figures, then when they part neere the fringes of the circle. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, cxc, A Curled Cloud, whose Top With golden frindge, Spreads Glorie. a 1687 Cotton Song, Poems (1689) 354 Light..Beautifies The rayie fringe of her fair Eyes. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 85 ¶1 A friend of mine..has converted an Essay of a Man of Quality into a kind of fringe for his candlesticks. 1720 Gay Poems (1745) II. 107 Some works come forth at noon and die at night In blazing fringes round a tallow light. 1815 Byron Siege Cor. xvi, The fringe of the foam may be seen below. 1852 Conybeare & H. St. Paul (1862) I. i. 8 Asia Minor..was bordered by a fringe of Greek colonies. 1856 Ld. Cockburn Mem. i. (1874) 46 [He] detected the dying man peeping cautiously through the fringes of his eyelids. 1857 Livingstone Trav. v. 96 A rim or fringe of ancient rocks. 1864 C. Clarke Box for Season I. 95 His whiskers met in what is commonly known as a Newgate fringe. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 5 The handlooms made a far-reaching straggling fringe about the great centres of manufacture. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. iii. (1894) 85 A broad fringe of snow ending in a bergschrund. 1890 Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 221 A grand-looking sheet of fresh water..a thin fringe of timber surrounding its margin. |
b. fig. occas. in sense of an appendage or sequel; also (
slang or
colloq.), irrelevant matter. In wider use: an outer edge or margin of any kind, material or immaterial; an outer limit of a country, area, or population. Also
attrib. = existing on the edge or margin of an area or region.
Cf. also
Celtic a. 2.
| 1642 [see facing 4 b]. 1651–3 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year (1678) 357 In..the confines of Grace and the fringes of Repentance. a 1734 North Lives I. 322 There followed the horrid conspiracy, called the Rye plot, and, as fringes to these, other minor plots. 1874 H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. i. §5. 47 A fringe of Gentile forces and influences had surrounded the sacred institutions of Judaism. 1875 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Greatness Wks. (Bohn) III. 272 Depth of intellect relieves even the ink of crime with a fringe of light. 1886 Police Report, As to what had taken place in the park, he (the magistrate) considered it simple fringe, and he would not go into that. 1898 Queen Victoria in Daily News 20 Dec. 5/4 All these people ask is to be allowed to do their daily task in peace..and to have a little fringe of play. 1902 D. G. Hogarth Nearer East 162 The density of this Fringe population depends on fertility. Ibid. 181 It is necessary to detach the Arabs, who are found in the Arabian and Mesopotamian Fringe, from the central Semitic group. Ibid. 185 The outer desert ring has up to now proved effective to separate this loose unity from the Fringe populations. Ibid. 221 This system of railways..will serve to neutralise the immemorial tendency of this Fringe to display upon a superficial area..a congeries of human groups bitterly antagonistic in tradition and hope. 1903 [see marginal a. 3]. 1926 J. Geddie (title) The Fringes of Edinburgh. 1935 Amer. Speech X. 10/2 Information..regarding the language spoken on the fringes of society. 1943 Times 21 Dec. 2/3 Altogether 35 sneak-raiders were destroyed in ‘fringe target’ attacks alone during the first half of the year. 1947 in Amer. Speech (1950) XXV. 65/1 ‘Fringe’ Parking. 1951 Electronic Engin. XXIII. 262 He is resident in a fringe area. 1958 Spectator 14 Feb. 195/3 It may have won him a few fringe votes in Rochdale. 1958 Times 11 Nov. 4/3 Certain ‘fringe’ events arranged in Bath during the festival, notably the Festival Ball, [etc.]. 1960 Guardian 23 June 8/1 This is not part of the festival, but one of the ‘fringe’ entertainments. 1960 G. Murray in Spectator 28 Oct. 639, I have..adopted the term ‘fringe’ to indicate those medical practices which are not available to the patient in the NHS as a matter of course. 1962 Guardian 4 July 7/1 The posturings of a bunch of fringe-lunatics. 1966 Times 9 Nov. 13/5 Fringe Londoners like to keep the odd pig or two in their outbuildings. 1971 Ink 12 June 12/4 Events include discussions, rock groups, fringe theatre. |
c. A portion of the front hair brushed forward and cut short.
Cf. bang. Also
Grecian fringe.
| 1876 Queen 29 July (Advt.), Curled or waved fringes for the front hair. 1878 Cassell's Fam. Mag. IV. 175/2 None of that affected ‘Grecian fringe’ with which modern ‘girls of the period’ strive to hide what little forehead they possess. 1883 Mrs. Oliphant A Lover & his Lass (ed. 2) III. iv. 84 Jean was not too old to indulge in..fringes and curls on her forehead. 1884 Besant Childr. Gibeon 49 The ‘fringe’ was never intended to darken and disfigure the face. 1887 Daily News 2 May 7/2 Wanted, at once, a young person..who understands house and parlour work..No fringe. |
d. In plants.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 217 The said root is full of strings or fringes. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 2) III. 330 Splachnum..fringe with 8 teeth. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 363 Calyx magnified, showing the fringes. 1856 E. Capern Poems (ed. 2) 136 Why its [the daisy's] fringe..Is thrown o'er mosses mellow. 1862 Darwin Fertil. Orchids v. 207 If these fringes are placentae, they are more largely developed than in other Orchids. 1879 Lubbock Sci. Lect. i. 17 Small flies..when they have once entered the tube, are imprisoned by the fringe of hairs. |
e. In animals.
| 1665 Hooke Microgr. 174 The whole edge of the wing is cover'd with a small fringe, consisting of short and more slender brisles. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. ii. (1818) 279 A black substance on the fringe or fin [of oysters]. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 327 Elytra and wings..without fringes. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 107 A delicate contractile arborescent fringe. 1848 Carpenter Anim. Phys. 248 In Fishes the gills are composed of fringes. |
f. Anat. = fimbria.
| 1857 Bullock Cazeaux' Midwif. 65 One of these fringes..attaches itself to the extremity of the ovary. |
g. Optics. A band or strip of contrasting brightness or darkness produced by the diffraction or interference of light and usually seen as one of a series.
| 1704 Newton Optics iii. i. (1721) 293 These Shadows have three parallel Fringes, Bands or Ranks of colour'd Light adjacent to them. 1827–8 J. F. W. Herschel in Encycl. Metrop. IV. 468 On the whole, the lamina would appear marked all over with dark and bright alternating fringes, just as we see it actually does. 1831 Brewster Optics iv. 32 A bright light..separated from the faint light by a coloured fringe. 1837 Goring & Pritchard Microgr. 76 When I obtained the light of the prism..obliquely, the coloured fringes instantly appeared. 1866 E. Atkinson tr. Ganot's Elem. Treat. Physics (ed. 2) vii. viii. 491 From the fact that the dark fringes disappear when one of the beams is intercepted, it is concluded that they arise from the interference of the two pencils which cross obliquely. Ibid. 493 A series of alternate dark and light bands or fringes are seen parallel to the line of shadow. 1923 Glazebrook Dict. Appl. Physics IV. 144/2 The simplest application of interference fringes is the testing of optical surfaces by means of test plates. 1963 R. W. Ditchburn Light (ed. 2) v. 127 Coloured fringes are often seen when a thin film of transparent material is viewed by reflected light. The film may be a layer of oil on water or on the surface of a road. 1966 W. J. Smith Mod. Optical Engin. xiv. 416 The accuracy of the fit between work and gage is described in terms of the number of fringes seen when the gage is placed in contact with the work. |
h. A strip of false colour between regions of contrasting brightness in an optical image, or surrounding the representation of an object on a colour film or in a projected colour picture (
cf. fringing vbl. n. b).
| 1891 H. T. Wood Light vii. 105 Newton..arrived at the conclusion..that an achromatic object-glass, or a glass not showing these coloured fringes, was impossible. 1936 A. B. Klein Colour Cinematogr. 322 A fringe may be caused by parallax, error in printing registration, or by movement in the object which has taken place between the exposure of color-separation negatives. 1943 A. Cox Optics 220 When there is any appreciable amount of lateral chromatic aberration present one side of the image has a red fringe, and the other has a deep blue fringe. 1963 R. W. Ditchburn Light (ed. 2) vii. 259 When white light is used, coloured fringes appear at the boundaries between light and dark regions in an image. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
fringe-maker;
fringe-making vbl. n.;
fringe-backed,
fringe-finned,
fringe-hung,
fringe-lipped adjs. Also
fringe benefit orig. U.S., a perquisite or benefit of some kind provided by an employer to supplement a money wage or salary; also
transf.;
fringe-flower = fringe-tree;
fringe-gloves, fringed gloves, gloves ornamented with a fringe;
fringe-loom (see
quot.);
fringe medicine, a collective term for systems of treatment of disease, etc., that are not regarded by the medical profession as part of orthodox treatment or whose efficacy and underlying premises are disputed;
fringe-moss, a name for various species of moss (see
quot.);
fringe-myrtle (see
quot.);
fringe-net, a net intended to confine a fringe (2 c) of hair; hence
fringe-netted ppl. a.;
fringe-pod, a name given in California to
Thysanocarpus laciniatus;
fringe-tree,
Chionanthus virginica;
fringe-variation Chess (see
quot. 1907).
| 1952 Newsweek 18 Feb. 74/2 For its 650,000 members it had asked..several cents' worth of *fringe benefits. 1955 Times 6 June 10/3 Many of the gains that labour has been getting through new contracts are not so much increases in money wages as in so-called ‘fringe’ benefits—such as larger pensions and welfare payments. 1962 Times 12 Nov. 11/3 The term ‘fringe benefit’ was apparently first recorded..in an announcement by the United States War Labour Board during the Second World War. 1969 Times 30 Apr. 24/4 (Advt.), Successful candidates can expect to receive salaries based on their experience and ability and fringe benefits which include 18 working days holiday a year, generous contributory pension scheme, free life insurance to the value of two years salary and car purchase at reduced rates. |
| 1872 Nicholson Palæont. 321 A division of Ganoids called..Crossopterygidæ, or *fringe-finned. |
| 1882 John Smith Dict. Pop. Names Pl. *Fringe-Flower (Chionanthus virginica) a shrub..of the Olive family. |
| 1589 Acc.-bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 55 A dosse' *fringe gloves. 1670 Wood Life (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) II. 208 A rich pair of fring-gloves. |
| 1827 Hood Hero & Leander lxxvi, Picture one..Who slowly parts the *fringe-hung canopies. |
| 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes (1859) I. 19 The *Fringe-lipped Lampern. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Fringe-loom, one in which the weft-thread is carried and detained beyond the limit of the warp, which has thus a series of loops beyond the selvage. |
| 1679 Bedloe Popish Plot 11 French-*fring-maker. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 478 ¶2 Fringe-makers, lace-men. |
| 1713 Lond. Gaz. No. 5086/4 The Employment..of *Fringmaking. |
| 1960 G. Murray in Spectator 28 Oct. 639, I have not attempted to assess the merits of the treatments that *fringe medicine can provide. 1964 B. Inglis Fringe Medicine 264 The distinction between orthodox and fringe medicine today is that orthodox treatment relies mainly on fighting disease with the help of drugs or surgery, whereas unorthodox treatment concentrates on stimulating the patient's constitution to fight on its own behalf, on the assumption that this is safer and more effective. 1980 Conc. Med. Dict. 248/1 Among the more reputable of systems of fringe medicine are osteopathy, acupuncture, homeopathy, naturopathy, and chiropractic. 1983 Guardian 15 Apr. 15/4 Herbalism and other forms of fringe medicine attracted him. |
| 1818 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 6) III. 1058 Toothed Hoary *Fringe-Moss, Bryum hypnoides. 1868 F. E. Tripp Brit. Mosses 124 Ptychomitrium polyphyllum, Many-leaved Fringe Moss. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot., *Fringe-Myrtles, a name given by Lindley to the Chamælanciaceæ. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 10 June 2/1 She was now engrossed with a refractory *fringe-net. 1909 M. B. Saunders Litany Lane i. vi, Her round face, tightened up in a stiff frame of fringe-nets. 1966 J. S. Cox Illustr. Dict. Hairdressing 61/2 Fringe net, a net of human hair or, exceptionally, of silk or nylon used to confine a fringe of hair. |
| 1909 M. B. Saunders Litany Lane i. x, Provincial mayoress..with *fringe-netted hair. |
| 1775 A. Burnaby Trav. 7 The woods are beautified with *fringe-trees, flowering poplars, etc. 1863 S. L. J. Life in South I. vi. 85 The fringe-tree. |
| 1898 Brit. Chess Mag. 472 It would not be very difficult to find quite a goodly collection of two-movers in which every specimen contained the weakness of a ‘*fringe’ variation. 1907 S. S. Blackburne Terms & Themes Chess Probl. i. 54 A variation which does not spring naturally from the position, but has been tacked on by the employment of men which have otherwise no effect upon the solution, is known as a ‘Fringe Variation’. |
Hence
ˈfringeless a., having no fringe;
ˈfringelet, a small fringe.
| 1837 Cooper Recollect. Europe II. 78 The present cropped and fringeless, bewhiskered and laceless generation of France. 1868 F. E. Tripp Brit. Mosses 71 Anodus Donianus..Fringeless Bristle Moss. 1887 Pop. Sci. Monthly XXXI. 747 Each fringelet is a tube made of firm elastic membrane. |
▪ II. fringe, v. (
frɪndʒ)
[f. fringe n.] 1. trans. To furnish, adorn, or encircle with a fringe or something resembling a fringe. Chiefly in
pa. pple.| 1480 Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 143 An other sperver..frenged with frenge of silk. 1555 Eden Decades 315 They so rychely frynge and byset the same with perles. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 174 Nor is this edge onely thus fring'd. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 37 Curtains fringed with Battlements from one to the other. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Lady Rich 1 Apr., They are covered..with..cloth..very often richly embroidered and fringed. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 164 Day's first rays..Fring'd the blue clouds with gold. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 9 The wheat fly itself is very small..with rounded wings, fringed with short hairs. 1850 Hawthorne Scarlet L. vii. (1883) 125 A pair of gloves, which she had fringed and embroidered to his order. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 165 A long tract of moorland, fringed with villages. 1888 F. Hume Mad. Midas 1 Prol., Fringing the wet sands with many coloured wreaths of sea-weed and delicate shells. |
| fig. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 250 When he hath set downe some wicked Doctrine, presently to lace and fringe it with Precepts of Fasting, Prayer, or Good manners. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. ii. 20 The transaction..was fringd with such cautelous restraints that he was sure to keep the better end of the staff still to himself. 1828 Sporting Mag. XXII. 233 The old Gentleman's memory is fringed with exemplary characteristics. |
2. To serve as a fringe to; to present the appearance of a fringe upon.
| 1794 W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumberld. I. 188 The wood that fringes the border of the rivers. 1813 H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr. 65 Why, beautiful nymph, do you close The curtain that fringes your eye? 1859 W. S. Coleman Woodlands (1866) 84 The Alder loves also to fringe the margins of our lakes and pools. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. xii. 342 Close upon the Esquimaux who fringe the northern coast. 1873 Tristram Moab viii. 153 Camels in scattered order..fringed the horizon. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 338 A narrow band, fringing the lateral edge of the bundle. |
3. To fritter or trifle
away.
rare.
| 1863 Geo. Eliot in Cross Life (1885) II. 367 Such fringing away of precious life, in thinking of carpets and tables, is an affliction to me. |
4. intr. To spread like a fringe
away,
off,
out,
over, etc.
| 1858 Geo. Eliot Scenes Clerical Life II. iii. iv. 113 The Bridge Way was an irregular, straggling street, where the town fringed off raggedly into the Whitlow Road. 1875 ‘Mark Twain’ in Atlantic Monthly Mar. 286/2 Do you see where the line fringes out at the upper end and begins to fade away? 1877 Ibid. Nov. 591 Its [sc. the town's] borders fringed off and thinned away among the cedar forest. 1899 C. P. Allen What is Liberalism? viii. 48 Its limits fringe away from it like a huge penumbra. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 15 Aug. 2/1 Exmoor..is for the most part in the west of Somerset, but it fringes over into the north-eastern part of Devon. |