English
outwardly
Outwardly comes from Middle English outwardly ‘While located at the exterior’, from outward ‘outside’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘upwards, away, out, outward’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*úd1‘upwards, away, out, outward’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ūt1‘out, outward’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ūt1‘out, outward’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūt2‘outside, outdoors’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūtweard3‘outward, to the outside’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outward4‘outside’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outwardly5‘While located at the exterior’
- Englishearliest quotation 1907outwardly5
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Old English ut
- 2 Wiktionary, Old English utweard
- 3 Wiktionary, Middle English outward
- 4 Wiktionary, Middle English outwardly
- 5 Wiktionary, English outwardly
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Barbara Baynton, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton): “If only she would wake and close her mouth,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*údWiktionary, Old English ut‘upwards, away, out, outward’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*ūtWiktionary, Old English ut‘out, outward’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*ūtWiktionary, Old English ut‘out, outward’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūtWiktionary, Old English utweard‘outside, outdoors’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150ūtweardWiktionary, Middle English outward‘outward, to the outside’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outwardWiktionary, Middle English outwardly‘outside’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500outwardlyWiktionary, English outwardly‘While located at the exterior’
- Englishearliest quotation 1907outwardlyWiktionary, English outwardly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Barbara Baynton, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton): “If only she would wake and close her mouth,…”
Formed from outward + -ly
Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘upwards, away, out, outward’
…
Proto-West Germanic *ūt ‘out, outward’
Old English ūt ‘outside, outdoors’
Old English ūtweard ‘outward, to the outside’
Middle English outward ‘outside’
English outward
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *úd ‘upwards, away, out, outward’
uterus, amaze, awaken, hubris, uterine, aghast, hysteresis, 8 more
through Proto-Germanic *ūt ‘out, outward’
through Old English ūt ‘outside, outdoors’
Today it means
adv Externally or on the outside, or on the surface.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “outwardly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Old English ut, Old English utweard, Middle English outward, Middle English outwardly. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *úd / outwardly