Edges

How to spell edges

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce edges

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does edges mean?

1. nounThe outer borders or margins where something ends.
2. nounThe sharp cutting sides of blades or tools.
3. verbMoves slowly and gradually in a particular direction.

Edges in a sentence

• noun

  The worn edges of the old map had started to fray.

• noun

  The edges of the kitchen knives needed sharpening before the dinner.

• verb

  The cautious driver edges forward into the busy junction.

• noun

  Frost gathered along the edges of the window each morning.

• noun

  Skaters keep the edges of their blades clean and honed.

• verb

  She edges closer to the stage to get a better view.

Where does edges come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English ecg, which meant the sharp cutting side of a blade as well as a corner or border. It belongs to a wide Germanic family, with close relatives in the Dutch egge and the German Ecke ('corner'), all tracing back to a prehistoric root meaning 'sharp' or 'pointed'. That same ancient root surfaces in Latin as acies ('a sharp point or battle line') and acer ('sharp'), which is why English words like 'acute' and 'acrid' feel like distant cousins. Over the centuries the meaning broadened from the literal blade to any rim, boundary, or margin, and a verb sense developed for moving little by little, as if creeping along a narrow edge. The spelling keeps the 'dge' cluster typical of short-vowel words like 'bridge' and 'ridge', and the plural simply adds -s to give 'edges'.

How the word is built

• edge (from Old English ecg: a sharp side or border)
• -s (plural noun / third-person verb suffix)