outset

Etymology

It is formed from English out- + set,^[2][3][4][5] with the noun set.^[2][3] Merriam-Webster explains the sense "beginning" as modelled on the phrasal verb set out,^[6][7] and the OED compares that phrasal verb and the verb outset, "to set forth".^[2] Etymonline names outsetting (1670s) as the earlier word for a setting out.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Scots, the paying out of a promised sum of money, in a charter of 1482, a rare sense now obsolete.^[2] The Shorter Oxford dates the money senses, payment and outgoings, from the late 15th to the mid 18th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word first belonged to money: payment in Scots (1482), then expenditure or outgoings (1755–64) and the outlay with which a venture starts (1719–88).^[2] In Scots it also meant an adornment, something that sets a thing off to advantage (about 1590 to 1894).^[2] The sense now current, the act of setting out on a journey, course of action or business, and so a start or beginning, is first quoted in 1664 in the OED,^[2] while Etymonline dates it to 1759.^[4] It is now used chiefly in the phrases at the outset, from the outset.^[2][8][9] Short-lived later senses were an outward current of water (1857–98) and, in mining, a raised area round the mouth of a pit being sunk (1878–88).^[2] In Scots and northern English dialect it meant the start of a journey or of a business.^[10]

Timeline

• 1482 – Scots, the paying out of a promised sum of money.^[2]
• 1506 – Scottish, an enclosure taken in from moorland or common.^[2][6]
• c. 1590 – Scots, an adornment (obsolete by 1894).^[2]
• 1664 – the setting out on a journey or course; a start.^[2]
• 1719 – the initial outlay of a venture (obsolete by 1788).^[2]
• 1755 – expenditure, outgoings (obsolete by 1764).^[2]
• 1759 – a setting out, a beginning, in Etymonline's dating.^[4]
• 1857 – an outward-flowing current (obsolete by 1898).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The start or beginning of something, mainly in the phrases at the outset, from the outset: From the outset the expedition was short of money.^[8][6][9][2]
2. (Scotland) An enclosure of land taken in from outlying moorland, pasture or common and placed under cultivation.^[6][2][3]
3. (obsolete, 1482–1764) The paying out of money; expenditure, outgoings.^[2][3]

Related words

• onset
• set out
• offset

Usage notes

The OED treats the Scottish sense "enclosure" as a formation of its own: out- with Scots set "dwelling", either from Old English set (“habitation”) or from an early Scandinavian borrowing like Old Norse setr (“dwelling, residence”).^[2]

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 s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)