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outflow

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Etymology and origin of the English word outflow

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1785 R. Cumberland, The Observer More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origins
English out-Old English flowan
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English flow
English outflow
From the same root
English inflow ← flow
English workflow ← flow

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈaʊtfləʊ/[1]
  • US: /ˈaʊtfloʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English out- + flow,[2][3][4][5] the noun being modelled on the verb outflow or on the phrase “flow out”.[2][5] The verb is much older: it existed in Old English, in King Alfred's translation of Gregory's “Pastoral Care”, apparently fell out of use at the end of the Old English period, and was formed again in the 16th century.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged likewise dates the verb to before the 12th century.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An outward movement, often figurative: 1785, in R. Cumberland's The Observer.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged also dates the noun to 1785.[5] The 1989 edition of the OED had the first record in 1869,[6] and Etymonline still dates the noun to 1869.[3]

Semantic evolution

The noun was at first used mostly of outward movement in a figurative sense; the literal flowing out of a liquid is recorded from 1839, the amount that flows out from 1875 and a place where something flows out, an outlet, from 1880.[2] Etymonline dates the sense "that which flows out" to 1875.[3] Meteorologists have used it since 1887 for the horizontal outward flow of air from a thunderstorm or cyclone,[2] and it is now common of money, people or ideas leaving a place.[7][4] The re-formed verb, recorded from the late 16th century, is mainly poetic.[4][2]

Timeline

  • Old English – verb, to flow out.[2][5]
  • 1785 – noun, an outward movement, often figurative.[2][5]
  • 1839 – the flowing out of a liquid.[2]
  • 1875 – the amount of liquid flowing out.[2][3]
  • 1880 – a place where an outflow occurs; an outlet.[2]
  • 1887 – in meteorology, an outward flow of air from a storm.[2]
  • 1898 – adjective use, relating to an outflow.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act or process of flowing out: a dam to check the outflow of the lake.[7][5][2]
  2. Something that flows out, or the amount that flows out, such as liquid, money, people or ideas: a steady outflow of capital.[7][5][4]
  3. A place where something flows out; an outlet.[2]
  4. (meteorology) A horizontal outward flow of air from a thunderstorm or cyclone.[2]

Verb

  1. (poetic) To flow out.[4][5][2]

References

  1. ^ a b 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Outflow.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/outflow. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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