Etymograph

English

outwards

Outwards comes from Middle English outwardes ‘Outside one's home country’, from Proto-West Germanic *ūt ‘out, outward’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *úd.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úd‘upwards, away, out, outward’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ūt‘out, outward’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ūt‘out, outward’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ūt‘outside, outdoors’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ūtweard‘outward, to the outside’
  6. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ūtweardes‘outwards, to the outside’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outwardes‘Outside one's home country’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1526outwards

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úd‘upwards, away, out, outward’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ūt‘out, outward’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ūt‘out, outward’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150ūt‘outside, outdoors’
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ūtweard‘outward, to the outside’
  6. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150ūtweardes‘outwards, to the outside’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outwardes‘Outside one's home country’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1526outwards

Earliest quotation: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “Wo be to you scrybes, and pharises ypocrites, for…”

Formed from outward + -s

Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘upwards, away, out, outward’

…

Proto-West Germanic *ūt ‘out, outward’

Old English ūt ‘outside, outdoors’

Old English ūtweard ‘outward, to the outside’

Middle English outward ‘outside’

English outward

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘upwards, away, out, outward’

uterus, amaze, awaken, hubris, uterine, aghast, hysteresis, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *ūt ‘out, outward’

about, 2 more

through Old English ūt ‘outside, outdoors’

out, utter, 2 more

Today it means

adv From the interior toward the exterior; in an outward direction.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *úd / outwards

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