English
outlandish
Outlandish comes from Old English ūtlendisċ ‘foreign’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‘land, heath’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lendʰ-‘land, heath’root as named
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ūtlandiskazreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ūtlandiskreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūtlendisċ‘foreign’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outlandisch
- Englishearliest quotation 1535outlandish
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lendʰ-‘land, heath’root as named
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ūtlandiskazreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ūtlandiskreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūtlendisċ‘foreign’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outlandisch
- Englishearliest quotation 1535outlandish
Earliest quotation: 1535, Myles Coverdale: “[W]e haue bꝛokẽ thy ſtatutes ⁊ cõmaundementes agayne, ⁊…”
Equivalent to outland + -ish
Proto-Germanic *ūtlandą
Old English ūtland ‘foreign land, land abroad’
Middle English outland
English outland
The story
The adjective is derived from Middle English outlandisch, outlondish (‘foreign’), from Old English ūtlendisċ (‘foreign; strange, outlandish’), from Proto-West Germanic *ūtlandisk, from Proto-Germanic *ūtlandiskaz, from *ūtlandą (‘(adjective) alien, foreign; relating to outlying land; (noun) foreign land; outlying land’) + *-iskaz (suffix forming adjectives from nouns with the sense ‘characteristic of; pertaining to’). Ūtlandą is derived from *ūt- (suffix meaning ‘beyond; external to, on the outside of’) (from Proto-Indo-European *úd (‘away; out, outward; upwards’)) + *landą (‘area of ground, land’) (from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (‘heath; land’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‘land, heath’
Today it means
adj Of or from a foreign country; not indigenous or native; alien, foreign.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- / outlandish