Meanings
comparative more extrinsic · superlative most extrinsic · alternative obsolete extrinsick
- External; separable from the thing itself; inessential.
- Not belonging to something; outside.
1 more example
1 Experimental set up for strength testing of the flexor hallucis muscle of the right foot To ensure accurate positioning of the hallux onto the load cell, and to minimise the influence of the extrinsic muscles of the foot (ankle plantarflexors and flexor hallucis longus) and the 2nd to 4th toes, a purpose-built wooden platform was constructed and positioned under the NWBB.
2015 September 9, June Quek et al., “Intra-rater reliability of hallux flexor strength measures using the Nintendo Wii Balance Board”, in Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, volume 8, →DOI
plural extrinsics · alternative obsolete extrinsick
- An external factor.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivenot forming an essential part of a thing or arising or originating from the outside
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinextrinsecus“from without, without, on the outside”
- Frenchextrinsèque
- Englishextrinsic
From French extrinsèque, from Latin extrinsecus (“from without, without, on the outside”), from *extrim, an assumed adverbial form of exter (“outer, outward”) + secus (“by, on the side”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian външен, несвойствен
- външен (vănšen)external, separable from the thing itself, inessential
- несвойствен (nesvojstven)external, separable from the thing itself, inessential
- чужд (čužd)not belonging to, outside
Catalan extrínsec
- extrínsecexternal, separable from the thing itself, inessential
Chinese Mandarin 外來 /外来, 非本質 /本质
- 外來 /外来 (wàilái)external, separable from the thing itself, inessential
- 非本質 /本质 (fēi)not belonging to, outside
- 非固有 (fēi)not belonging to, outside
- 外在 (wàizài)not belonging to, outside
French extrinsèque
- extrinsèqueexternal, separable from the thing itself, inessential
Indonesian ekstrinsik
- ekstrinsiknot belonging to, outside
Italian estrinseco
- estrinsecoexternal, separable from the thing itself, inessential
Portuguese extrínseco
- extrínsecoexternal, separable from the thing itself, inessential
Russian вне́шний, посторо́нний
- вне́шний (vnéšnij)external, separable from the thing itself, inessential
- посторо́нний (postorónnij)not belonging to, outside
Spanish extrínseco
- extrínsecoexternal, separable from the thing itself, inessential
Cite this entry
extrinsic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extrinsic
“extrinsic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extrinsic. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “extrinsic,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/extrinsic.
Source: extrinsic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.