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Boundary

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bound⋅a⋅ry

[boun-duh-ree, -dree]
–noun, plural -ries.
1. something that indicates bounds or limits; a limiting or bounding line.
2. Also called frontier. Mathematics. the collection of all points of a given set having the property that every neighborhood of each point contains points in the set and in the complement of the set.
3. Cricket. a hit in which the ball reaches or crosses the boundary line of the field on one or more bounces, counting four runs for the batsman. Compare six (def. 5).

Origin:
1620–30; bound 3 + -ary


1. Boundary, border, frontier share the sense of that which divides one entity or political unit from another. Boundary, in reference to a country, city, state, territory, or the like, most often designates a line on a map: boundaries are shown in red. Occasionally, it also refers to a physical feature that marks the agreed-upon line separating two political units: The Niagara River forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. Border is more often used than boundary in direct reference to a political dividing line; it may also refer to the region (of, for instance, a country) adjoining the actual line of demarcation: crossing the Mexican border; border towns along the Rio Grande. Frontier may refer to a political dividing line: crossed the Spanish frontier on Tuesday. It may also denote or describe the portion of a country adjoining its border with another country (towns in the Polish frontier) or, especially in North America, the most remote settled or occupied parts of a country: the frontier towns of the Great Plains. Frontier, especially in the plural, also refers to the most advanced or newest activities in an area of knowledge or practice: the frontiers of nuclear medicine.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bound·a·ry   (boun'də-rē, -drē)   
n.   pl. bound·a·ries
  1. Something that indicates a border or limit.

  2. The border or limit so indicated.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

boundary 
1626, from Fr., from O.Fr. bodne, from M.L. bodina, butina "boundary, boundary marker" (see bound (n.)), perhaps infl. by M.L. bonnarium "piece of land within a fixed limit."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: bound·ary
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ar·ies
: a theoretical line that marks the limit of an area of land
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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