fringe

Where it comes from

Fringe came through Anglo-French from a Vulgar Latin form related to Latin fimbriae, fibers, threads, or fringe. Its earliest English sense was the ornamental border of loose or hanging threads on cloth.

How the meaning developed

The textile border generalized into any edge or periphery. Once the edge could be social rather than physical, people and ideas outside a mainstream became the fringe. Fringe benefits followed another branch: additions lying outside regular wages.