OUT
OUT as a Basic word for (a) opposite of in; (b) to a distance, away, (c) made public, no longer secret, (d) openly, loudly; (e) on the market (f) open, flowering, (g) on strike, (h) no longer current, (i) (light) no longer on, (j) in error, wrong; (k) completed.
OUT- as a prefix means "located away" (outbuilding) or "going away" (outbound) or to make any part of speech into a verb meaning "better/greater than" (outrun).
Makes adjective from verb (outgoing). Makes verb into noun meaning suddenly (outburst).
Logic of analysis
Are these two subjects identical ? No ! "Better or greater than" is the most common use as a prefix and is not a meaning of OUT the word. So first mark all of these as "prefix" and then review the shorter list. Where the meaning is clearly a distant thing or opposite of IN, mark as Yes. This leaves a short list.
outback Yes. Back portion of outside.
outbuilding Yes, distant building
outburst - prefix Ogden disagrees, says yes.!
outcome Yes, specialized meaning of coming out. Ogden agrees, yes!
outcry Yes, loudly crying out. Ogden agrees.
outdated - prefix
outdistance - prefix
outdo - prefix
outdoor(s) Yes, although could be confused with an exterior door, the meaning as not indoor, seems clear, also see outdoorsman. Ogden agrees!
outdoorsman(women) Yes, usage would be unambiguous, not a doorman
outerware Yes, outside goods (clothing)
outgo - No, too specialized meaning of spending
outgoing - No, would mean going out, rather than friendly. Ogden disagrees, says yes. What about leaving office?
outgrow - prefix Ogden agrees, no.
outgun - prefix
outhouse Yes, as a synonym of outbuilding, not as specialized meaning of a privy. Ogden says
outland(s) Yes, distant lands
outlander Yes, one from distant lands.
outlast -prefix
outlaw Yes, outside of the law Ogden agrees.
outlet Yes, a thing to let go out from. Ogden agrees.
outline - No, would mean outside the lines, not the line itself.
Verb meaning to make a line along the outside of a body is too much of a stretch.
But Ogden says yes.
outlive - prefix
outlook Yes, as a place to look out over earth, but not as forecast. Ogden agrees.
outman - prefix
outmost Yes, most distant ; also a prefix
outermost Yes, ditto
outmuscle - prefix
outnumber - prefix Ogden agrees.
outplay - prefix
outpoint - prefix meaning scores
outpost - No, unrelated to mail
outpouring Yes, opposite of inpouring.
output Yes, meaning amount of work put out. Ogden agrees.
As a word meaning computer printout used in English, German and Italian. Check other languages.)
outrange - prefix
outright - No, unrelated to direction from left or moral correctness. Ogden agrees.
outrun (d) - prefix
outset -No, unrelated to beginning. Humm, to set out on a task. Ogden says no.
outside Yes, the side opposite for in. Ogden agrees.
outsider ? one who is not inside, meaning as of a group is a slight stretch from
as of a thing.
outsize - prefix
outskirt - No, unrelated to locations. Ogden disagrees, say yes, based on skirting.
outskirting Yes, redundant of going round the outside.
outstation Yes, out meaning distant station.
outstretch - prefix Ogden disagrees, says, Yes.
outtake - No, unrelated to media
outtalk - prefix, dominate with speech
outwork(d) - prefix
Discussion ?
There are 49 examples. Ogden expresses his decision, in the Basic Dictionary, on 18 of them. We agree on 13 instances
and disagree on five. 72% agreement.
- Nine we agree are compounds of Basic words as forming new words.
- Four we see as prefixes, he agrees are not Basic compounds,
- But there are five that we feel are prefixes that he considers okay to use as Basic.
Therefore, are we able to go forward with some confidence that our picks for compounds are correct?
But, we are equally split on prefixes !
The disagreements should be most obviously instructive.
- OutBurst : burst=explode, outburst=sudden explosion. Seems like a prefix. We think Ogden is wrong. Perhaps it is a redundant intensifier.
- OutGoing : going=journey away, outgoing= friendly. Ogden could be thinking of going outside oneself. A stretch, but acceptable. We can accept his judgment.
- OutLine : line=a one dimensional or mark, outline=mark the outside of something. This is at least two dimensions, therefore is a stretch, but we can accept his judgment.
- OutSkirt : skirt=clothing. However skirting is both a thing from which skirts are made, but also going round the outside.
Backing off from the -ing of this definition, makes "to skirt" mean "go round the outside". A bit circular in logic, because skirting for a table is just a clothing for an object instead of a woman. Barely acceptable.
- OutStretch : stretch=tract of land or an extension (pull elastically). Outstretched=extended. Thus is a bit redundant as outwardly stretched (rather than compressed?) We still see a prefix, outbound stretching or greater stretching, but will not fight too hard against its acceptance.
The stretch of going outside oneself to be friendly, the degree of stretch of putting a skirt on a table to mean journeying round a location, and the stretch of stretching out when there is no such thing as stretching in, all suggest that a case can possibly be made for all uses of "OUT".
Lets look at the four instances where Ogden agrees that the prefix is not able to be used.
- OutGrow : grow=increase . Outgrow=grow out of, going away from. Argumentively, outgrow could mean increasingly away from. This is a stretch no greater than some above.
- OutNumber : number=many . OutNumber=number greater than. It could be stretched to a number outside that of something else. ditto.
- OutRight : right=opposite of left or correct. Outright=completely, straight out. Overly correct is definitely a prefix.
- OutSet : set=a group or to put. Outset=beginning. Could be defined as put at a distance, an excessive stretch in our judgment.
In each of these four examples we agree that trying to make a compound, rather than a prefix is a great stretch.
Yet our concerns remain that Ogden allows several examples of prefixes being treated as compounds.
The only conclusions that we see is that Ogden is fallible or that we should tend to be more lenient is allowing OUT to be used as a compound.
Tentative actions.
1. Go with our compound word decisions about the Basic vocabulary.
2. To follow Ogden's decisions to allow specific prefixes per the dictionary.
3. To not allow the other words that we consider prefixes, even thou Ogden may have allowed some of them.
Prefix or complex word forms ?
inner , lower , outer , upper -- we think these are complex forms
over- , self- , -- we think the are prefix.
Send further discussion to
Institute.