outlandish
Part of speech: adj
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: The adjective is derived from Middle English outlandisch, outlondish (“foreign”), from Old English ūtlendisċ (“foreign; strange, outlandish”), from Proto-West Germanic *ūtlandisk, from Proto-Germanic *ūtlandiskaz, from *ūtlandą (“(adjective) alien, foreign; relating to outlying land; (noun) foreign land; outlying land”) + *-iskaz (suffix forming adjectives from nouns with the sense ‘characteristic of; pertaining to’). *Ūtlandą is derived from *ūt- (suffix meaning ‘beyond; external to, on the outside of’) (from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“away; out, outward; upwards”)) + *landą (“area of ground, land”) (from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“heath; land”)). By surface analysis, outland + -ish. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Danish udenlandsk (“foreign, non-domestic”)
* Dutch uitlands (dated) (now buitenlands (“foreign, non-domestic”)), Dutch uitlandig (“absent from the home country”) (now chiefly Suriname)
* Faroese útlendskur (“foreign, non-domestic”)
* German ausländisch (“foreign, non-domestic”)
* Icelandic útlenskur (“foreign”)
* Swedish utländsk (“foreign, non-domestic”)
Inflected forms:
form: more outlandish
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most outlandish
pos: adj
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: Of or from a foreign country; not indigenous or native; alien, foreign.
pos: adj
tags: archaic
examples: [W]e haue bꝛokẽ thy ſtatutes ⁊ cõmaundementes agayne, ⁊ mengled o^ꝛ ſelues wᵗ the vnclẽnes of the outlandiſh heithen.
Apiſhneſſe rides in a Chariot made of nothing but cages, in which are all the ſtrangeſt out-landiſh Birds that can be gotten: […]
Did not Solomon king of Iſrael ſinne by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloued of his God, and God made him king ouer all Iſrael: neuertheleſſe, euen him did outlandiſh women cauſe to ſinne.
The people therefore of the fair made a great gazing upon them: Some ſaid they vvere Fools, ſome they vvere Bedlams, and ſome they are Outlandiſh-men.
[H]e did not like the name of the outlandish man with the golden clock in his stockings.
[I]f breeding amongſt Chriſtians vvas as much encouraged as amongſt Dogs and Horſes, vve need not be making Lavvs to let in a Parcel of outlandiſh Locuſts to eat us all up.
Slightly observant of the smoky lights; of the people, pipe in mouth, playing with limp cards and yellow dominoes; of the one bare-breasted, bare-armed, soot-begrimed workman reading a journal aloud, and of the others listening to him; of the weapons worn, or laid aside to be resumed; of the two or three customers fallen forward asleep, who in the popular, high-shouldered shaggy black spencer looked, in that attitude, like slumbering bears or dogs; the two outlandish customers approached the counter, and showed what they wanted.
gloss: Appearing to be foreign; strange, unfamiliar.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
examples: I believe, Lady, your Ladyſhip obſerved a young VVoman at Church yeſterday at Even-ſong, vvho vvas dreſt in one of your outlandiſh Garments; I think I have ſeen your Ladyſhip in ſuch a one. Hovvever, in the Country, ſuch Dreſſes are / Rara avis in Terris, nigroq; ſimillima Cycno, / That is, Madam, as much to ſay, / A rare Bird upon the Earth, and very like a black Svvan.
Roast beef and plum pudding are also held in superstitious veneration, and port and sherry maintain their grounds as the only true English wines; all others being considered vile outlandish beverages.
gloss: Greatly different from common experience; bizarre, outrageous, strange.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
examples: The rock star wore black with outlandish pink and green spiked hair.
[T]hoſe Laſciuious, Immodeſt, VVhoriſh, or vngodly Faſhions, and Attires, vvhich Metamorphiſe, and Transforme, our Light, and Giddie Females of the Superior and Gentile ranke, into ſundry Antique, Horred, and Out-landiſh ſhapes, from day, to day: […]
He was an outlandish figure, with his wide-brimmed hat and pointed beard, among those country folk, and it was easy to see that they thought him very queer; but his spirits were so high, his enthusiasm so contagious, that it was impossible not to like him.
Except for an eye-catching sky-blue container boldly and attractively featuring the B.T.C.'s "door-to-door" arrow symbol[…], there were no outlandish colour schemes or lettering styles.
I hardly need to add that this story requires outlandish assumptions to make investment behaviour more passive than one would expect it to be in an industrial capitalist economy.
gloss: Of a place: far away from where most people are located; in the middle of nowhere, out of the way, remote.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
derogatory
examples: It will be very convenient to have a medical man—if he is clever—in one's own parish. I get dreadfully nervous sometimes, living in such an outlandish place; and Sherton is so far to send to.
I will take this occasion of adding that we are both enjoying ourselves in these outlandish parts, and only wish for the presence of our friends (yourself and John, to wit) to make the trip perfectly enjoyable as it promises to be instructive.
Related words: outland
outlander
Derived words: outlandisher
outlandishlike
outlandishly
outlandishness
unoutlandish
Translations: