outsight

outsight

English

Etymology

From out- +‎ sight. Cognate with Dutch uitzicht (“view, prospect, outlook”), German Aussicht (“view, prospect, chance, outlook, perspective”), Swedish utsikt (“view, outlook, prospect”).

Noun

outsight (countable and uncountable, plural outsights)

1. Sight for that which is on the outside; the ability or capacity to perceive or anticipate external things; view; outlook; perspective; power of observation.
   • 1897, Ursula Newell Gestefeld, How we master our Fate:

     When we live by outsight, we become submissive to fate.

   • 1968, Richard Matthew Jones, Fantasy and feeling in education:

     It can key her into broad areas of emotional import, and therefore of personal significance, which if made relevant to the subject matter would provide some children with opportunities for linking insights to outsights, [...]

   • 2007, James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner, The leadership challenge:

     This means honing their “outsight” —the capacity to perceive external things—and helping their constituents develop that ability as well.

2. Expectation; prospect.
   • 2009, E. Milton Scott, Hinges of Time:

     Yet we sail toward it grasping The outsight which we know is there.

3. (Scotland) Movable goods kept out of doors, such as animals, ploughs, carts, and other implements of husbandry.

Synonyms

• observation

Related terms

• insight