▪ I. ˈoutˌport1
[out- 1, 6.]
1. a. A port outside some defined place, as a city or town; in England, a term including all ports other than that of London.
| 1642 Ordin. Parl. conc. Tonnage & Poundage 13 As well of the City of London as the Out-ports. 1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade 295 By these Companies being established at London, the City of Bristol and other the Out Ports, are excluded from any Advantages by them. 1722 De Foe Plague (1756) 250 While the Plague continued so violent in London, the Out-ports, as they are call'd, enjoyed a very great Trade. 1884 Manch. Exam. 16 Oct. 5/3 Reprehensible practices employed both in London and in the outports. |
| attrib. 1707 Chamberlayne's St. Gt. Brit., List Govt. Officers 498 Four Examiners of the Out-Port Books. 1731 Gentl. Mag. I. 84 Alexander Gould, Esq...made inspector of the out-port collectors accounts. |
b. Chiefly in Labrador and Newfoundland, a small remote fishing village. Also attrib. Hence ˈoutporter, an inhabitant of an outport.
| 1820 in C. R. Fay Life & Labour in Newfoundland (1956) viii. 138 Almost every fifth fisherman is what is termed a ‘Planter’, particularly in the outports of the Island. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 6 May 10/1 The Newfoundland outporters are hardy, courageous, boldly adventurous, simple-lived. 1907 J. G. Millais Newfoundland p. xv, I have tried to enter into the life of the true Newfoundlander—the man of the outports. 1949 [see new light 3 a]. 1964 L. E. F. English Historic Newfoundland 6 Visit the fishing villages, the so-called outports of the Province of Newfoundland. 1966 A. R. Scammell My Newfoundland 17 Environment and circumstance..developed in the young outport lad initiative, and a sense of responsibility. 1973 B. Broadfoot Ten Lost Years xix. 214 Mallory and Derek, pretty fancy names for a couple of outporters, eh? 1974 Nat. Geographic Jan. 116 Most islanders cling to the seaside in isolated villages called outports. 1978 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 14 Jan. 8/2 Trudeau's Government..killed a subsidy that keeps a useful ferry service going between the mainland and outer islands in the Queen Charlottes and between the Vancouver supply area and the tiny outports of the northern coast. |
c. A small port, located to support the commerce of a main port.
| 1935 J. A. Fraser Spain & W. Country x. 108 It was from Seville and its little out-port Sanlucar de Barrameda..that nearly all the early Spanish voyages of discovery went forth. 1952 F. W. Morgan Ports & Harbours 76 In order to prevent a loss of trade the port undertakes the development of an ‘outport’ nearer the sea, which can attract the larger vessels. 1956 Sun (Baltimore) 3 Sept. 4/5 It just wouldn't work to have a New York contract cover each of the outports. |
2. A port of embarkation or exportation.
| c 1790 B. Rush Ess., Progr. Popul. Penn. (1802) 225 Our state is the great outport of the United States for Europeans. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 89 Corn being a long time in reaching its outport. 1872 Daily News 20 Jan., Liverpool is the great outport of England—the place where people go who are about to leave the country. |
▪ II. † outport2 Obs.
[Cf. out- 25.]
Conveyance outward; exportation.
| a 1603 Let. to Jas. VI in Robertson Hist. Scot. viii. Wks. 1826 II. 188 That your Majesty will be pleased to admit free outport of the native commodities of this kingdom. |