Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
deckle edge

deckle edge

9.9
A rough, uncut edge on paper that looks handmade
  • noun
  • /ˈdɛkəl ɛdʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : bisel irregular
  • Many artistic prints feature a deckle edge, which adds character and charm to the artworks.

Examples

  • The artist preferred to display the deckle edge of the paper to highlight its handmade quality.

  • The note, folded once with a deckle edge, was written in a gracious hand: "You have been looking out the window during my lectures."

    Fiction book (1990)

  • These deckle edges were removed, sometimes with large portions of the uninked margins of the sheet, when the prints were subsequently altered for ease of handling, preservation, or sale.

    Academic text (1995)

  • This book is bound with deckle edge paper, giving it a unique, handmade appearance.

Synonyms

deckle
vsdeckle edge
  • Specialized
9.9

A rough, uneven edge on handmade paper

has the same meaning but is an alternative term for that paper edge

How Rough

deckle edge
  • Specialized
9.9

Surface Forms

deckle edge singular
deckle edges plural

Morphology

deckle + edge

The noun–noun phrase is fully compositional: 'deckle' names an irregular, feathered margin and 'edge' names a boundary, so 'deckle edge' literally denotes an edge that is deckle (an irregular paper margin). Although 'deckle' is a specialized term, the modifier+head pattern is regular English, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The noun deckle edge comes from old paper making where a wooden frame called a deckle left a soft, uneven edge on each sheet. That rough, uncut 'edge' showed the paper was made by hand, so today deckle edge means that same rough border or a machine-made copy of it.