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outcome

Etymology and origin of the English word outcome

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
a1225

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈaʊt.kʌm/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from out and come, after the verbal phrase to come out.[2][3][4] Old English had ūtancumen “stranger”.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of coming out, emergence: before 1225 in the OED, about 1200 in Etymonline; this sense is obsolete except in dialect.[5][2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Scots, the lengthening of the days in spring is from 1706.[5][4] A result or consequence is from 1788, originally Scottish, and was made popular in English by Carlyle in the 1830s;[2][5][3] Middle English had used outcoming in a similar sense.[2] An outlet is from 1885,[5] and in medicine and psychology the result of treatment from 1926.[5]

Timeline

  • a1225 – a coming out.[5]
  • 1706 – lengthening days (Scots).[5]
  • 1788 – a result.[5]
  • 1830s – popularized by Carlyle.[2]
  • 1926 – the result of treatment.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The result or effect of an action or situation; a consequence.

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  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 c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Outcome.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/outcome. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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