pə rI fə ri
1. the outer boundary or edge of an area or surface, or the region directly inside or outside of this.
Trees mark the periphery of our property.
2. the nonessential area or aspect of something.
Sample passage containing the word “periphery” (definition 2)
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution speaks in unusually emphatic language: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” Not most persons or only those who are white or who are born to citizens. All persons.
Yet some Americans hold a fringe view and would deny citizenship to those whose parents entered this country illegally. That idea so violates our history and law that it has long been consigned to the periphery, but recent political posturing by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and others has brought the debate about birthright citizenship into the mainstream.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/16/opinion/la-ed-birthright-20100816
Test your understanding of “periphery” as used in this passage by identifying a synonym and an antonym of “periphery” used in the passage.