Meanings
plural outrances
- obsoleteuncountableusuallyThe furthest degree or extremity, going beyond bounds or propriety.
1819: But if the shield was touched with the sharp end of the lance, the combat was understood to be at “outrance”, that is, the knights were to fight with sharp weapons, as in actual battle. — Walter Scott, Ivanhoe
1 more example
For an ordinary joust there would have been a barrier: but in this case the fight was to be a outrance, which meant that it might end with swords on foot, and so the barrier was left out.
1958, T[erence] H[anbury] White, chapter 37, in The Once and Future King, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, book III (The Ill-Made Knight)Synonyms: utterance
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe furthest degree or extremity, going beyond bounds or propriety.
Origin
- Late Latinultra-
- Old Frencholtrance
- Englishoutrance
From Old French oltrance (modern outrance (“excess”)), from outrer (“pass beyond”), from oltre, outre, utre, from Late Latin ultra-. Compare outrage.
More words from Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
outrance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outrance
“outrance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outrance. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outrance,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outrance.
Source: outrance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.