marginal

わずかな、重要でない、周辺的な

規模や重要性が小さい、または中心的な話題との関わりが薄いこと。

やさしい英語で： Small in size or importance, or only slightly connected to the main subject.

• The change had only a marginal effect.
• Her role in the project was marginal.
• Sales showed a marginal increase last month.

使い方： marginal to something (These details are marginal to our main argument.)

類義語： minor, slight, peripheral

反対語： major, central

よく使う表現： marginal importance, marginal increase, marginal role

限界の

生産や所得が一単位増えるときの費用、収入、税に関すること。

やさしい英語で： Relating to the cost, income, or tax for one extra item produced or amount earned.

• The marginal cost of another copy is low.
• Her marginal tax rate rose after the pay increase.
• The company compared marginal revenue with marginal costs.

類義語： incremental

よく使う表現： marginal cost, marginal tax rate, marginal revenue

ぎりぎりの、かろうじて許容できる

受け入れられる水準にやっと届く、または使えないほど悪い状態に近いこと。

やさしい英語で： Only just good enough to be accepted, or almost too poor to use.

• His work is marginal at best.
• The test results showed marginal performance.
• With such marginal skills, she may struggle in this job.

類義語： borderline, barely adequate

反対語： excellent

よく使う表現： marginal quality, marginal performance, marginal at best

余白に書かれた

ページの本文の横にある空白部分に書かれたこと。

やさしい英語で： Written in the empty space beside the main text on a page.

• The book contains marginal notes.
• Her marginal comments helped me understand the poem.
• Several marginal annotations were added by a later reader.

よく使う表現： marginal notes, marginal comments, marginal annotation

生産性の低い、収益性の低い

特に農業や商売で、得られる作物や利益が非常に少ないこと。

やさしい英語で： Producing very little, especially when growing food or earning money.

• Few crops grow on this marginal land.
• The farmers struggled to earn money from marginal fields.
• Drought made several farms marginal.

類義語： barely productive, low-yielding

反対語： productive

よく使う表現： marginal land, marginal farmland, marginal farms

周辺の、縁の

場所や物の外側の端、またはその近くにあること。

やさしい英語で： At or near the outer edge of an area or object.

• These plants grow in marginal areas of the marsh.
• The leaf has small marginal teeth.
• Flooding affected the marginal zones beside the lake.

類義語： peripheral, bordering

反対語： central

よく使う表現： marginal area, marginal zone, marginal plants