Deckle Edge
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The feathery edge occurring round the borders of a sheet of handmade or mould-made paper, due to the deckle or frame of the mould. It can be imitated in machine- made papers.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Deckle Edge” mean?
The feathery edge occurring round the borders of a sheet of handmade or mould-made paper, due to the deckle or frame of the mould. It can be imitated in machine- made papers.
Is “Deckle Edge” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.