outnumber

Etymology

It is formed from English out- + number,^[2][3][4] from the prefix and either the noun or the verb number, according to the OED;^[2] Etymonline takes the verb.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To exceed in number: 1598, in John Florio's Italian–English dictionary A Worlde of Wordes.^[2][4] The 1989 edition of the OED and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dated it to 1670,^[5][6] and Etymonline to the 1660s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same since the first record.^[2][7] Johnson (1755) defined the verb as "to exceed in number" and quoted Addison's Spectator, where the ladies came to the opera in such numbers that they outnumbered the enemy.^[8]

Timeline

• 1598 – to exceed in number.^[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be greater in number than: The visiting fans outnumbered the home supporters two to one.^[7][4][9][2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: 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. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin