marginalia
plural noun
mar·gi·na·lia ˌmär-jə-ˈnā-lē-ə 
1
: marginal notes or embellishments (as in a book)
2
: nonessential items
the meat and marginalia of American politics 
Saturday Rev.
Saturday Rev.
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Where does marginalia come from?
We don't consider a word's etymology to be marginalia, so we'll start off by telling you the etymology of this one. Marginalia is a New Latin word that borrows from the Medieval Latin adjective marginalis ("marginal") and ultimately from the noun margo, meaning "border." Marginalia is a relatively new word; it dates from the 19th century despite describing something—notes in the margin of a text—that had existed as far back as the 11th century. An older word, apostille (or apostil) once referred to a single annotation made in a margin, but that word is rare today.
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Outside of a few brave diplomats on the marginalia of American strategic policy, America is still largely mute. Craig Hooper, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022 The real creative triumph is in the throwaway bits—the screenwriting marginalia. Kyle Smith, WSJ, 16 June 2022 Cobain’s written and sonic marginalia continue to be excavated and parsed, from the 2002 book Journals to 2015’s album and documentary Montage of Heck. Brad Shoup, Billboard, 24 Mar. 2022 The strikethroughs and marginalia of Sylvia Plath’s manuscripts can deliver multiple monologues, showing us all that the finished poem leaves unsaid. Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2022 Scholars have preserved about 400 volumes that contain Stalin’s pometki—markings, notes and marginalia. Michael O’donnell, WSJ, 4 Feb. 2022 Both book and marginalia are acts of writing, collaborations between author and subject, text and reader — precisely the sort of communal-meaning making to which Barthes refers. New York Times, 2 Nov. 2021 My marginalia became a series of handholds on the placid smoothness of the page. New York Times, 2 Nov. 2021 Bookmarking and highlighting remain the only counterparts to dogearing and marginalia. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2021 See More
Craig Hooper, Forbes, 3 Aug. 2022 The real creative triumph is in the throwaway bits—the screenwriting marginalia. Kyle Smith, WSJ, 16 June 2022 Cobain’s written and sonic marginalia continue to be excavated and parsed, from the 2002 book Journals to 2015’s album and documentary Montage of Heck. Brad Shoup, Billboard, 24 Mar. 2022 The strikethroughs and marginalia of Sylvia Plath’s manuscripts can deliver multiple monologues, showing us all that the finished poem leaves unsaid. Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2022 Scholars have preserved about 400 volumes that contain Stalin’s pometki—markings, notes and marginalia. Michael O’donnell, WSJ, 4 Feb. 2022 Both book and marginalia are acts of writing, collaborations between author and subject, text and reader — precisely the sort of communal-meaning making to which Barthes refers. New York Times, 2 Nov. 2021 My marginalia became a series of handholds on the placid smoothness of the page. New York Times, 2 Nov. 2021 Bookmarking and highlighting remain the only counterparts to dogearing and marginalia. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
New Latin, from Medieval Latin, neuter plural of marginalis
First Known Use
1819, in the meaning defined at sense 1