English
outer
Outer comes from Middle English outre, and goes back to Old English ūtre.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūtre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outre
- Englishearliest quotation 1963outer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūtre
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outre
- Englishearliest quotation 1963outer
Earliest quotation: 1963, Margery Allingham, London: Chatto & Windus: “Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall.…”
Formed from out + -er
Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘upwards, away’
Proto-Germanic *ūt ‘out’
Proto-West Germanic *ūt ‘out’
Old English ūt ‘out’
Middle English out
English out
Linked words
through Middle English outre
Today it means
adj Outside; external.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English ūtre / outer