Etymology
1. O.E.
ut, common Gmc. (cf. O.N., O.Fris., Goth.
ut, Du.
uit, Ger.
aus), from PIE base
*ud- "up, up away" (cf. Skt.
ut "up, out,"
uttarah "higher, upper, later, northern;" Avestan
uz- "up, out," O.Ir.
ud- "out," L.
usque "all the way to, without interruption," Gk.
hysteros "the latter," Rus.
vy- "out"). Meaning "unconscious" is attested from 1898, originally in boxing. Sense of "not popular or modern" is from 1966. The verb was O.E.
utian "expel," used in many senses over the years. Meaning "to expose as a closet homosexual" is first recorded 1990; as an adj. meaning "openly avowing one's homosexuality" it dates from 1970s (see
closet; senses of "into public view" have been present in
out since 16c.). Noun sense in baseball (1860) was originally from cricket, where it is attested from 1746. Adverbial phrase
out-and-out "thoroughly" is attested from 1325; adj. usage is attested from 1813;
out-of-the-way (adj.) "remote, secluded" is attested from c.1483.
Out-of-towner "one not from a certain place" is from 1911. Shakespeare's
It out-herods Herod ("Hamlet") reflects Herod as stock braggart and bully in old religious drama and was widely imitated 19c.
Out to lunch "insane" is student slang from 1955;
out of this world "excellent" is from 1938;
out of sight "excellent, superior" is from 1891.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *úd
4. Proto-Germanic *ūt
5. Proto-West Germanic *ūt
6. Old English ūt
7. ▲
8. Proto-Germanic *ūt
9. Proto-Germanic *-ai
10. Proto-Germanic *ūtai
11. Proto-West Germanic *ūtē
12. Old English ūte
13. Middle English oute
14. English out
15. From Middle English out, oute, from a combination of Old English ūt (“out”, preposition & adverb), from Proto-West Germanic *ūt, from Proto-Germanic *ūt (“out”); and Old English ūte (“outside; without”, adverb), from Proto-Germanic *ūtai (“out; outside”); both from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“upwards, away”).
16. Cognates
17. Cognate with Scots oot (“out”), Yola out, outh, udh, ut, uth (“out”), North Frisian üt, ütj (“out”), Saterland Frisian uut (“out of”), West Frisian út (“out”), Cimbrian aus, auz (“out, outwards”), Dutch uit (“out”), German and Luxembourgish aus (“out”), Yiddish אויס (oys, “over, finished”), Danish ud (“out; outside”), Icelandic út (“out”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ut (“out”), Gothic 𐌿𐍄 (ut, “out of”). See: Scots '
oot'.
Verbs referencing "out"
Dutch
outen, German, old spelling
outen, German, old spelling
ausdenken.