An archaic or poetic term for margin or edge, particularly the border of a page or the shore of a body of water. Rarely used in modern English except in literary contexts.
From Latin 'margo' (border, edge) via Old French 'marge'. Common in Middle English, it largely gave way to 'margin' but persists in poetry and as a shortened form of the name Margaret.
This word survives mainly in poetry because poets love short, punchy words that carry ancient weight. Shakespeare used 'marge' to describe shorelines, and the word still evokes something more mystical and boundary-crossing than the businesslike 'margin' ever could.
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