"O" Word Origins

outcompass

Origin

From out- + compass (“limit”).

outcry

Middle English

From Middle English outcry, built from "out-" and "cry."

outdated

Origin

Formed from "outdate" plus "-ed."

outdo

Origin

Built from "out-" (surpassing) plus "do."

outdoor

Origin

Built from "out-" plus "door."

outdoors

Origin

From "out" plus "doors," likely a shortened form of the older phrase "out of doors."

outdoorsmanship

Origin

From outdoorsman + -ship.

outer

Old English

From Old English ūtera, built from "out" plus the comparative ending "-er"; a distant relative of the word "utter."

outerchange

Origin

From outer + change by analogy with interchange.

outfield

Origin

Built from "out-" plus "field."

outfielder

Origin

From outfield + -er.

outfit

Origin

A variant of the older phrase "fit out," rearranged into "out-fit."

outfitter

Origin

From outfit + -er.

outflow

Origin

From Middle English outflowen, from late Old English ūtflōwan (attested in the past tense as ūt flēow), equivalent to out- + flow. The noun is derived from the verb.

outgang

Origin

Inherited from Middle English outgang, from Old English ūtgang (“an outgoing, exit”), from Proto-West Germanic *ūtgang, from Proto-Germanic *ūtgangaz, equivalent to out- + gang. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Uutgoang (“exit”), West Frisian útgong (“exit”), Dutch uitgang (“exit”), German Ausgang (“exit”), Swedish utgång (“exit”).

outgo

Origin

PIE word *úd The verb is derived from Middle English outgon (“to go out, depart, leave; to come out, emerge; to escape; to protrude; of a sword: to be drawn; to emanate from (a place); to accompany”), from Old English ūtgān (“to go out”), Proto-West Germanic *ūtgān (“to go out”), equivalent to out- + go. See also go out. Compare Middle English outwenden (“to go out, depart, leave; to escape; to be emitted, fly out from; of a weapon: to be drawn”), which, like modern outgo, had the past tense and past participle form outwent. The noun is derived from modern English out- (prefix meaning ‘away from; toward the outside of’) + go. Sense 1 (“cost, expenditure, or outlay”) was probably modelled on income. Cognates * Scots outgae * West Frisian útgean * Dutch uitgaan * German Low German utgahn * German ausgehen * Swedish utgå

outgoing

Origin

Formed from "outgo" plus "-ing."

outgrow

Origin

Built from "out-" plus "grow."

outhouse

Middle English

From Middle English outhous, built from "out-" plus "house."

outing

Origin

Formed from "out" plus "-ing."

outland

Origin

From Middle English outland, outlond, from Old English ūtland (“foreign land, land abroad”), from Proto-Germanic *ūtlandą (“outland”), equivalent to out- + land. Cognate to Dutch uitland, Afrikaans uitland, German Ausland, Danish udland. The use in the phrase "outland German" is influenced by (or is a calque of) the German cognate of the same meaning, Auslandsdeutsche (see Ausland). The use in the phrase "outland Chinese" is influenced by (or is a calque of) the Chinese term of the same meaning, 華僑 / 华侨 (huáqiáo).

outlander

Origin

From outland + -er. In certain uses, influenced by or a calque of the Dutch uitlander or Afrikaans uitlander. Also cognate with German Ausländer, Swedish utlänning and Danish udlænding. Doublet of uitlander.

outlandish

Old English

From Old English ūtlendisċ, meaning "foreign," built from "out-," "land," and the adjective suffix "-ish." Its meaning shifted over time from simply "foreign" to "bizarre" or "strange."

outlast

Origin

Built from "out-" plus "last."

outlaw

Old English

From Old English utlaga, "outlaw," borrowed from Old Norse utlagi — someone put "outside the law." Same out- root as outside and outward.

outlawry

Origin

Inherited from Middle English outlawerie, from outlawe + -erie after Anglo-Norman utlagarie, utlarie, and Late Latin utlagaria; by surface analysis, outlaw + -ry.

outlet

Middle English

From Middle English outleten, "to let out" — built from out- + let, the same "let" as in "let someone through."

outlier

English

From out and the verb lie, meaning something lying outside the main body; the geological sense is recorded before the statistical one.

outline

Origin

A straightforward compound of out + line.

outlive

Middle English

From Middle English outliven, built from out- + live — literally "to live beyond."

outlook

Origin

Built from out- + look — literally "a looking out," originally a place from which one could watch for danger or view the surroundings.

outlying

Origin

From outlie (Etymology 2) + -ing.

output

Origin

A nominalization of the phrase "put out" — literally "that which is put out."

outrage

Latin

From Old French outrage, "excess," ultimately from Latin ultra ("beyond"). It was later reinterpreted by English speakers as out- + rage, which is why it's pronounced that way today — even though the two words aren't actually related.

outrageous

Anglo-Norman

From Anglo-Norman outrageus, built on outrage + -ous.

outrageously

Middle English

From Middle English outrageously, equivalent to outrageous + -ly.

outreach

Origin

Built from out- + reach — literally "a reaching out."

outright

Middle English

From Middle English outright. By surface analysis, out + right.

outroper

Origin

From out- + roper.

outrounding

Origin

A calque of Swedish utrundning.

outrow

Origin

From out- + row.

outsend

Origin

From Middle English outsenden, equivalent to out- + send. Cognate with Dutch uitzenden (“to broadcast, emit, transmit”), German aussenden (“to emit, send out”), Swedish utsända (“to broadcast”).

outsending

Origin

From outsend, equivalent to out- + sending or outsend + -ing. Cognate with Dutch uitsending (“broadcast, emission, transmission”), German Aussendung (“a sending out”), Swedish utsändning (“broadcast”).

outset

Origin

From out- + set, replacing earlier outsetting.

outshadow

Origin

From out- + shadow.

outsleep

Origin

From out- + sleep.

outsource

English

A compound of out- and source, on the model of sourcing goods or services from outside the organisation.

outspeak

Origin

From out- + speak. Cognate with Scots outspeak (“to declare, utter, speak out”), Dutch uitspreken (“to pronounce, outspeak”), German aussprechen (“to express, pronounce”).