Etymology

outsider

O1U1T1S1I1D2E1R1

Today it means: Someone who is not part of a particular community, profession, organization etc.; a person coming from elsewhere, having no special knowledge. Full definition →

First used 19th c.English outside ← Middle English side ← Old English sīde
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úd
  2. Proto-Germanic*ūt
  3. Proto-West Germanic*ūt
  4. Old Englishūt
  5. Proto-Germanic*ūt
  6. Proto-Germanic*ūtai
  7. Proto-West Germanic*ūtē
  8. Old Englishūte
  9. Middle Englishoute
  10. Englishout
  11. Proto-Indo-European*seh₁-
  12. Proto-Germanic*sīdaz
  13. Proto-Germanic*sīdǭ
  14. Old Englishsīde
  15. Middle Englishside
  16. Englishside
  17. Englishoutside
  18. English todayoutsider

From outside + -er.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 19th c. Someone who is not part of a particular community, profession, organization etc.; a person coming from elsewhere, having no special knowledge.
  • from 19th c. Someone who does not fit into conventional society; a misfit; an iconoclast.
  • from 19th c. A competitor or contestant who has little chance of winning; a long shot.
  • 20th c. A type of jaunting car with the passenger seats facing outwards.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.