outpost

Etymology

It is formed from English out- + post,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the noun post meaning a station or place where one is on duty.^[3] In this sense post is from French poste (“place where one is stationed”), from Italian posto (“post, station”), from Vulgar Latin *postum, from Latin positum, the neuter past participle of pōnō (“to place, put”).^[3] The verb is formed from the noun.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A detachment of soldiers placed at a distance from the main army, especially to guard against a surprise attack, and the position it holds: 1696, in E. D'Auvergne's history of the 1695 campaign in Flanders.^[2] MWU dates this sense from 1720,^[6] and Etymonline from 1757, in George Washington's letters.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Canada from 1802 an outpost was a trading post set up in a remote place or near a frontier.^[2] From 1813 the word was used more widely of a remote town or settlement, an isolated branch of something, or the furthest limit of something.^[2][7] From 1848 it was used of a remote territory of an empire, especially the British Empire, as in outpost of Empire;^[2] Etymonline notes that the phrase later often echoes Kipling.^[3] The verb, to station as an outpost, followed in 1864, and "to supply with outposts" in 1910.^[2] American campus slang of 1984 used outpost for a daydreamer.^[8]

Timeline

• 1696 – a detachment of troops placed away from the main army.^[2]
• 1802 – a trading post in a remote place (originally Canadian).^[2]
• 1813 – a remote settlement; the outermost limit of something.^[2]
• 1848 – a remote territory of an empire.^[2]
• 1864 – verb, to station as an outpost.^[2]
• 1910 – verb, to supply with outposts.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A body of troops stationed at a distance from the main force to guard it against surprise attack, or the position they occupy: The patrol reached the northern outpost at dawn.^[7][6][2]
2. A military base kept in another country by agreement.^[6]
3. A remote or outlying settlement, especially a trading post near a frontier.^[7][2]
4. A remote territory of an empire.^[2]
5. A limit or frontier; the outermost point of something.^[7][2]

Verb

1. To guard or watch with an outpost.^[6]
2. To station as an outpost, or to supply with outposts.^[2]

Related words

• post
• position

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 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. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ 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 Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com