outset

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaʊtsɛt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From out- +‎ set, replacing earlier outsetting.

Noun

outset (plural outsets)

1. An onset; the beginning or initial stage of something. [from 1759]

   He agreed and understood from the outset, so don't bother explaining again.

   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     At the first outset, heavy, miry ground and a matted, marish vegetation greatly delayed our progress; […]

   • 1954 January, “Notes and News: An Abandoned Railway from the Air”, in Railway Magazine, page 64:

     It was opened on July 1, 1903, and worked by the former Highland Railway from the outset.

   • 2011 October 15, Michael Da Silva, “Wigan 1 - 3 Bolton”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Six successive defeats had left them rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table but, clearly under instructions to attack from the outset, Bolton started far the brighter.

Translations

initial stage of something

Bulgarian: начало (bg) n (načalo) Catalan: inici (ca) m, començament (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 開始 / 开始 (zh) (kāishǐ) Czech: počátek (cs) m, začátek (cs) m French: début (fr) m Georgian: დასაწყისი (dasac̣q̇isi) German: Anfang (de) m, Beginn (de) m Hungarian: kezdet (hu), indulás (hu), eleje (hu) Italian: inizio (it) m, principio (it) m Plautdietsch: Aunfank m Polish: początek (pl) m Portuguese: início (pt) m Russian: нача́ло (ru) n (načálo) Scottish Gaelic: dol a-mach m Serbo-Croatian: Roman: začetak (sh) m Spanish: inicio (es) m Turkish: baş (tr), başlangıç (tr)

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025), “outset”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Etymology 2

From out- +‎ set.

Verb

outset (third-person singular simple present outsets, present participle outsetting, simple past and past participle outset)

1. (Internet, CSS, transitive) To cause (a design element) to extend around the outside of something else, the opposite of being inset.

Anagrams

• Stoute, Tetsuo, set out, setout