outland

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English outland, outlond, from Old English ūtland (“foreign land, land abroad”), from Proto-Germanic *ūtlandą (“outland”), equivalent to out- +‎ land. Cognate to Dutch uitland, Afrikaans uitland, German Ausland, Danish udland. The use in the phrase "outland German" is influenced by (or is a calque of) the German cognate of the same meaning, Auslandsdeutsche (see Ausland). The use in the phrase "outland Chinese" is influenced by (or is a calque of) the Chinese term of the same meaning, 華僑 / 华侨 (huáqiáo).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: out‧land

Adjective

outland (not comparable)

1. Provincial: from a province (of the same land).
2. Foreign: from abroad, from a foreign land.
   • 1921, Gordon Bottomley, Gruach and Britain's daughter: two plays, page 74:

     These outland Romans will not kill us all If you permit them to do their governing, Which is so dear to them, over you and us.

   • 1966, Donald Davidson, Poems, 1922-1961, page 107:

     I heard strange pipes when I was young, / Piping songs of an outland tongue.

3. (used with ethnic nationalities) Living abroad, living in a foreign land, expatriate.
   • 1919, William Milligan Sloane, The powers and aims of western democracy, page 402:

     Whatever dependence the Pan-German chauvinist had placed on outland Germans proved to be a broken reed.

   • 1949, The Reader's Digest, volume 54, page 101:

     When the "outland Danes," who live in other countries, return by the thousand for the summer festivals, they gather first in the grim 13th-century fortress of Kronborg, [...]

   • 1980, New Society, volume 51, page 546:

     To China, it is "Chinese territory under British administration" : its citizens are regarded as "home Chinese," not "outland Chinese," and can travel freely to the mother country.

   • 2001 June 12, Mike Echo Mike, “Why do I fly !!!”, in rec.aviation.student (Usenet):

     And Bruno's name is "Bienenfeld" meaning that I would place him as what are in Cleveland anyway called "Donau Schwaben" i.e., outland Germans living in SE Europe [...]

Synonyms

• (living abroad): expatriate

Derived terms

• outland Germans

Noun

outland (plural outlands)

1. (especially in the plural) Any outlying area of a country; the provinces.

Hypernyms

• (structural) land

Derived terms

• outlander
• outlandish
• outlands

Etymology 2

From out- +‎ land.

Verb

outland (third-person singular simple present outlands, present participle outlanding, simple past and past participle outlanded)

1. (martial arts) To land more (punches, kicks etc.) than.

Anagrams

• Daulton