# external
## English
### Alternative forms

* externall (obsolete)

### Etymology

From Late Middle English, from Medieval Latin externus (“outward, external”), from exter/exterus (“on the outside, outward”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɪksˈtɜː.nəl/, /ɛksˈtɜː.nəl/
* (General American) IPA: /ɛksˈtɝ.nəl/, /ɪksˈtɝ.nəl/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nəl

### Adjective

external (comparative more external, superlative most external)
* Outside of something; on the exterior.
    This building has some external pipework.
** 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:Her virtues graced with external gifts.
** 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:Of all external things, […] / She [Fancy] forms imaginations, aery shapes.
** (anatomy) Situated near or toward the surface of the body.
** (pharmacology, relational) Relating to or denoting a medicine or similar substance for use on the outside of the body.
* Capable of being perceived outwardly.
** Having merely the outward appearance of something.
    Synonym: superficial
** Not intrinsic or essential.
    Synonyms: accidental, accompanying; see also Thesaurus:extrinsic
*** 1850, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord:The external circumstances are greatly different.
* Provided by something or someone outside of the entity (object, group, company etc.) considered.
    external authority, external force
* Relating to or connected with foreign nations or institutions.
    Synonym: foreign
    external trade or commerce; the external relations of a state or kingdom
* Having existence independent of the mind.
    external reality
* (education) For or concerning students registered with and taking the examinations of a university but not resident there.
    external degrees
* (computing, of a hardware) Not contained in the main computer.
    Synonym: peripheral
* (computing, of storage) Using a disk or tape drive rather than the main memory.

#### Antonyms

* internal

#### Derived terms

* anteroexternal
* dorsoexternal
* external acoustic meatus
* external auditory canal
* external condom
* external genitalia
* externalism
* externalist
* externalistic
* externality
* externalization
* externalize, externalise
* externally
* externalness
* external urethral orifice
* extimate
* nonexternal
* posteroexternal
* semiexternal
* external auditory meatus
* external carotid artery
* external cause
* external conflict
* external coupling
* external ear
* external fertilization
* external iliac artery
* external link
* external maxillary artery
* external oblique
* external oblique muscle
* external risk
* external sandhi
* external stimulus
* external world

#### Translations
### Noun

external (plural externals)
* (usually in the plural) The exterior; outward features or appearances.
** Inessential or superficial features.
*** 1979 December 22, S. J. Harris, “Life And Spirit”, in Gay Community News, volume 2, number 22, page 5:To a non-Christian who has never experienced but only observed the externals of Christianity, it appears to be merely another spiritual system, but to a person who has left one of the other religions and embraced the Christian faith, it is most definitely The Way, and all else pales to insignificance.
** Outward appearance.
*** 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 298:They had been such declared, such personal enemies, that, even in a court, it seemed wonderful how a decent external could be given to their reconciliation.
* (programming, in the C language) A variable that is defined in the source code but whose value comes from some external source.

### References

* “external”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “external”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

### Further reading

* “external”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “external”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “external”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.