outpouring

Etymology

It is formed from English out- + pouring, after the phrasal verb “pour out”.^[2][3][4] The Middle English Dictionary enters the gerund as outpouringe, from pouringe.^[5] Pour itself, recorded from about 1300, is of unknown origin.^[6] The verb outpour, to pour out, is later: the OED dates it to before 1560, Etymonline to the 1670s.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of pouring something out: 1440, in the Promptorium Parvulorum, where “owt powrynge” glosses Latin effūsiō.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word is next recorded in 1757, as the action of pouring out;^[6] Etymonline takes this as probably a new coinage, used at first in a transferred sense of spiritual things.^[6] The sense “that which is poured out”, especially a long spoken or written expression of emotion and often in the plural, follows in the early 19th century: the OED's first example is from 1822,^[2][4] Etymonline's from 1827.^[6] An adjective outpouring, pouring or rushing out in a stream, appears in 1808.^[2] Today the word is used above all of a sudden, strong show of feeling, as in an outpouring of grief.^[7][3]

Timeline

• 1440 – the action of pouring out.^[2][5]
• 1757 – the action of pouring out, at first of spiritual things.^[6]
• 1808 – adjective, pouring or rushing out in a stream.^[2]
• 1822 – that which is poured out, especially an outburst of feeling.^[2][4] Etymonline dates this sense to 1827.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sudden, strong or excessive expression of feeling; an outburst or effusion: The singer's death brought an outpouring of tributes from fans.^[7][3][4]
2. Something that pours out or is poured out; an outflow or stream: an outpouring of steam from the vent.^[3][4][2]
3. The act of pouring out.^[3][2][4]

Adjective

1. Pouring or rushing out in a stream.^[2]

Related words

• outpour
• pour

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins