Meanings
present singular third person outsources · participle present outsourcing · participle past outsourced · past outsourced
- UStransitivebusinessTo transfer the management or day-to-day execution of a business function to a third-party service provider.
They decided to outsource the design and manufacture of the system to a vendor.
2 more examples
Read said maintenance would be outsourced, with "positive discussions" held with two companies.
2020 April 8, “Network News: Varamis plans electric freight to carry light goods”, in RAIL, number 902, page 17Outsourcing is a concept that Burnham has already criticised and rightly so. Many train operators outsourced jobs like checking tickets at the gates or cleaning the trains, and therefore the staff had no opportunity to move up through the structure of the railways into managerial jobs.
2026 August 5, Christian Wolmar, “Burnham offers a fresh perspective for GBR”, in RAIL, number 1067, page 21Synonyms: farm out, subcontract
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo transfer the management or day-to-day execution of a business function to a third-party service provider.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úd
- Proto-Germanic*ūt
- Proto-Germanic*ūt-
- Old Englishūt-
- Middle Englishut-
- Englishout-
- Proto-Indo-European*upó
- Proto-Italic*supo
- Latinsub
- Latinsub-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃reǵ-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃réǵeti
- Proto-Italic*regō
- Latinregō
- Latinsubrigō
- Latinsurrigō
- Latinsurgere
- Old Frenchsourdre
- Old Frenchsours
- Middle Englishsours
- Englishsource
- Englishoutsource
Translations
Catalan externalitzar
- externalitzartransfer of business to a third party
Chinese Mandarin 外包, 委外
- 外包 (wàibāo)transfer of business to a third party
- 委外 (wěiwài)transfer of business to a third party
- 外判 (wàipàn)transfer of business to a third party
- 外購 /外购 (wàigòu)transfer of business to a third party
Czech zadávat subdodavatelské zakázky
- zadávat subdodavatelské zakázkytransfer of business to a third party
Danish udlicitere
- udliciteretransfer of business to a third party
Dutch uitbesteden
- uitbestedentransfer of business to a third party
Finnish ulkoistaa
- ulkoistaatransfer of business to a third party
French externaliser, sous-traiter
- externalisertransfer of business to a third party
- sous-traitertransfer of business to a third party
German auslagern
- auslagerntransfer of business to a third party
Hungarian kiszervez, alvállalkozásbaad (ki)
- kiszerveztransfer of business to a third party
- alvállalkozásbaad (ki)transfer of business to a third party
Icelandic útvista
- útvistatransfer of business to a third party
Italian esternalizzare, subappaltare
- esternalizzaretransfer of business to a third party
- subappaltaretransfer of business to a third party
Polish zlecać na zewnątrz, zlecić na zewnątrz
- zlecać na zewnątrztransfer of business to a third party
- zlecić na zewnątrztransfer of business to a third party
Portuguese terceirizar, externalizar
- terceirizartransfer of business to a third party
- externalizartransfer of business to a third party
Romanian externaliza
- externalizatransfer of business to a third party
Spanish externalizar, tercerizar
- externalizartransfer of business to a third party
- tercerizartransfer of business to a third party
- subcontratartransfer of business to a third party
Swedish outsource
- outsourcetransfer of business to a third party
Vietnamese thuê ngoài
- thuê ngoàitransfer of business to a third party
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with outsource
Anagrams
Cite this entry
outsource. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outsource
“outsource.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outsource. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “outsource,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/outsource.
Source: outsource on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.