Etymologically
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lookout

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈlʊkaʊt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English look + out,[2][3][4] after the phrasal verb look out, to be on the watch, which Etymonline dates to about 1600.[2][3] Dictionary.com describes it as the noun use of that verb phrase.[5] For the person who keeps watch, the OED compares the earlier looker-out.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action or duty of keeping watch, originally at sea: 1599, in J. Welsh's account in the new edition of Hakluyt's Principal Navigations.[2] The OED revised the entry in 2015;[2] other dictionaries date the word later, to 1662 (Merriam-Webster),[6] the late 17th century (the Shorter Oxford)[4] or the 1690s (Etymonline, Dictionary.com).[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a sailors' term: the OED marks the senses "keeping watch", "a place from which a watch is kept" and "a person keeping watch" as originally nautical.[2] The place and the person are both recorded from 1662,[2][6] and a boat sent ahead of a fleet to reconnoitre from 1761.[2] The set phrases keep a lookout (1684) and on the lookout (1755) followed.[2] From the late 18th century the word was also used, like outlook, for a view (1779) and then for the prospect of the future (1792).[2] The colloquial sense "one's own concern", as in that's your lookout, is recorded from 1795 and is now chiefly British;[2][7] Green's Dictionary of Slang marks it as originally American and quotes none of your look out from 1818.[8] In American faro, a lookout was a person who watched over the players and the dealer (1843).[2]

Timeline

  • 1599 – the action of keeping watch, at sea.[2]
  • 1662 – a place from which a watch is kept; a person stationed to keep watch.[2][6]
  • 1684 – to keep a lookout.[2]
  • 1755 – on the lookout.[2]
  • 1761 – a boat used for reconnoitring.[2]
  • 1779 – a view or prospect.[2]
  • 1792 – a prospect for the future.[2]
  • 1795 – one's own concern or responsibility.[2]
  • 1843 – in faro, a person who oversees the players and the dealer.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of keeping watch, especially for danger: Keep a lookout for falling rocks.[7][2]
  2. on the lookout: alert and watching for someone or something.[2][4]
  3. A person who keeps watch, as on a ship; a sentry or scout.[7][6][2]
  4. A high place or building from which a watch is kept or a wide view is had.[7][6][2]
  5. (chiefly British) A view or outlook; the prospects for the future: It's a grim lookout for the farmers this year.[7][2]
  6. (informal) A person's own concern or responsibility: If he won't take advice, that's his lookout.[7][2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com