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^(key): /ɪksˈtɜː.nəl/, /ɛksˈtɜː.nəl/
(General American) IPA^(key): /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.
1. (anatomy) Situated near or toward the surface of the body.
2. (pharmacology, relational) Relating to or denoting a medicine or similar substance for use on the outside of the body.
Capable of being perceived outwardly.
1. Having merely the outward appearance of something.
  Synonym: superficial
2. 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.
external trade or commerce; the external relations of a state or kingdom

Synonym: foreign
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

Expressions

Translations

outside of something

Arabic: خَارِجِيّ (ar) (ḵārijiyy)
Armenian: արտաքին (hy) (artakʻin)
Belarusian: зне́шні (znjéšni), во́нкавы (vónkavy)
Bulgarian: въ́ншен (bg) (vǎ́nšen)
Catalan: extern (ca) m, externa (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 外部的 (zh) (wàibù de)
Czech: externí (cs), vnější (cs)
Danish: udvendig, ekstern, udvortes
Dutch: uiterlijk (nl), uitwendig (nl)
Esperanto: ekstera, malena
Finnish: ulko- (fi), ulkoinen (fi), ulkonainen, ulkopuolinen (fi)
French: externe (fr)
Galician: externo (gl) m
Georgian: გარეგანი (ka) (garegani), გარეთა (gareta), გარე (gare)
German: außen-, extern (de), äußerlich (de)
Greek: εξωτερικός (el) (exoterikós)
Ancient: ἐξώτερος (exṓteros)
Hungarian: külső (hu)
Ido: extera (io)
Ingrian: ulkopooliin
Irish: imeachtrach
Italian: esterno (it)
Japanese: 外側の (ja) (そとがわの, sotogawa no), 外部の (ja) (がいぶの, gaibu no)
Kazakh: тысқары (tysqary)
Korean: 외부의 (ko) (oebu-ui)
Latin: exter (la), externus
Manchu: ᡨᡠᠯᡝᡵᡤᡳ (tulergi)
Maori: a waho, o waho, mōwaho
Occitan: extèrne (oc) m, extèrna (oc) f
Ottoman Turkish: ظاهر (zahir)
Persian: بیرونی (fa) (birôni), بیگانه (fa) (bigâne)
Pitcairn-Norfolk: ekstirnal
Polish: zewnętrzny (pl)
Portuguese: externo (pt)
Romanian: extern (ro)
Russian: вне́шний (ru) (vnéšnij), нару́жный (ru) (narúžnyj)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: èkstērnī (sh), ìzvanjskī (sh), vànjskī (sh)
Slovak: externý, vonkajší
Spanish: externo (es)
Swedish: extern (sv)
Telugu: బహిర్గత (bahirgata)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: зо́внішній (zóvnišnij)
Urdu: بیرونی (bairūnī)

Noun

external (plural externals)

(usually in the plural) The exterior; outward features or appearances.
1. 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.
2. 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.