outbound

Etymology

It is formed from English out- + bound,^[2][3][4][5] the second part being the adjective bound, on the way to, intending to go.^[2][3] The OED compares the older outward bound and the later inbound.^[2] That bound is from Middle English boun (“ready”),^[3][6] from Old Norse búinn (“prepared”), the past participle of búa (“to prepare; to dwell”);^[3][6][7] its final -d is a later addition.^[6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Outward bound: 1598, in R. Barret's Theorike and Practike of Moderne Warres;^[2][4] Etymonline dates it to the 1590s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word was used first of ships and travellers leaving for a distant place: Johnson (1755) defined it as "destinated to a distant voyage", quoting Dryden's "outbound ships".^[8] From 1895 it was used of arrangements for outward travel and of the people and vehicles making it, as in outbound traffic or an outbound station;^[2][4] it is often contrasted with inbound.^[4] In telemarketing, since 1989, outbound calls are those in which salespeople ring prospective customers.^[2] The OED also records it as an adverb, while travelling away from home.^[2]

Timeline

• 1598 – outward bound.^[2][4]
• 1895 – relating to outward travel or to those travelling outward.^[2]
• 1989 – in telemarketing, of calls made by salespeople to prospective customers.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Travelling away from a place, especially from home or a port; outward bound: The outbound flight leaves at noon.^[4][9][2]
2. Relating to outward traffic or travel: the outbound lanes of the bridge.^[4][2]
3. In telemarketing, of sales calls made by a salesperson to prospective customers.^[2]

Adverb

1. While travelling away from home or outward.^[2]

Related words

• inbound
• outward bound
• bound
• outward

Usage notes

The OED also records a rare verb outbound, formed from out- and bound in the sense of leaping: to surpass in bounding, or to leap beyond (1769, 1895).^[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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins