outland, n. and a.
(ˈaʊtlənd)
[out- 1.]
A. n.
1. a. A land that is outside, a foreign land.
Now only a poetic archaism.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxlvii. 3 [14] He ðine ᵹemæru ᵹemiclade, ðu on utlandum ahtest sibbe. ? a 1400 Morte Arthur 3697 When ledys of owt londys leppyne in waters. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. vi. (1895) 220 To thentente they maye the better knowe the owte landes of euerye syde them. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 126 Many a tale..he had Concerning outlands good and bad That they had journeyed through. 1876 ― Sigurd 315 There was a King of the out-lands, and Atli was his name. |
† b. in genitive case: Of the outland, foreign.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5910 Ffor out⁓landesmen þat come by se. ― Chron. (1810) 39 Tuo out⁓landes kynges on þis lond hauens hent. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 53 Quither thay be richer in out⁓landis geir, and merchandise. |
† 2. The outlying land of an estate or manor. In OE. and feudal tenure, that portion of the land which the lord did not retain for his own use but granted to tenants. (Opposed to inland 1.) Obs.
| 950 in Thorpe Charters 502 Wulfeᵹe þæt inland and ælfeᵹe þæt utland. 1664 Spelman, Utland. Saxonic. (id est terra extera). Dicebatur terra servilis, seu tenementalis, quod de procinctu terrarum dominicalium, quæ Inland nuncupatæ sunt, in exteriorem agrum rejiciebantur. 1706 Phillips, Outland (among the Saxons), such Land as was let out to any Tenant meerly at the Pleasure of the Lord. 1848 Wharton Law Lex., Outland, land lying beyond the demesnes, and granted out to tenants at the will of the lord, like copyholds. |
3. a. out-lands: the outlying lands of a province, district, or town, chiefly Amer. Colonies. Also transf.
| 1676 Connect. Col. Rec. (1852) II. 446 Wee are shut vp in our garisones and dare not goe abroad far to our outlandes, without som strength. 1705 R. Beverley Hist. Virginia II. vi. 40 When they [Indians] go a Hunting into the Out⁓lands, they commonly go out for the whole Season, with their Wives and Families. 1731 Rhode Island Col. Rec. (1859) IV. 442 An Act for erecting and incorporating the out-lands of the town of Providence, into three towns. 1931 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Oct. 14/6 Were it [sc. the weasel] the size of a bear or lion..the outlands would be unsafe for man unless he carried a gun. 1961 Webster s.v., In the outlands, the Yankees had been strangers. 1970 R. Lowell Notebk. 190 Someone comes here from the outlands, Trinidad. |
† b. The outer land: the opposite of inland. Obs.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 23 Ceilon..bore from us North by West..the out-Land low. |
4. A foreigner, alien, stranger. [? elliptical use of B. Cf. also OE. {uacu}tlenda foreigner.] Now Sc.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1326 Outlandes hadden wasted þat lond. Ibid. 5811 Outlandeis þat were ffledde, Alle swilk wyþ þeym þey ledde. 1825 Jamieson, Outlan, an alien, as ‘She treats him like an outlan’; ‘He's used like a mere outlan about the house’. 1887 Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl., Outlander, Outland, Outlan, an alien, a stranger; an incomer to a burgh or parish; also, one who lives beyond the bounds of a burgh. |
B. adj. [In origin an attrib. use of the n. OE. had an adj. {uacu}tlęnde, cf. ON. {uacu}tlendr foreign. ME. also used the genitive case outlandes: see A. 1 b.]
1. Of or belonging to another country; foreign, alien. Now poet. or arch.
| c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 20 Be ensample of these, al other out-lond men to be adrede such folies to begyn. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 857 Off outland men lat nane chaip with the liff. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 85 Externe and outland natiouns. 1651 J. Marius Adv. conc. Bills Exch. Pref. A iij, A Notary Publick for Outland and Inland affairs. 1754 Dict. Arts & Sc. II. 1141 There is not..any peculiar or proper money to be found in specie, whereon outland exchanges can be grounded. 1805 Coleridge Sibyl. Leaves II. 225 Vales and glens Native or out⁓land, lakes and famous hills. 1859 Tennyson Vivien 712 Sir Valence wedded with an outland dame. |
2. Outlying; lying without the precincts of an estate, a town, etc.
| 1791 J. Learmont Poems 261 May finer verdure busk ilk outland bent. 1887 Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl., Outland, Outlan, outlying, lying..out of or beyond the bounds of a burgh; as, ‘outland burgesses’. 1900 E. V. B. Sylvana's Letters xxi. 179 In chosen peeps of outland country. |
† 3. Situated outside the mass of land (as formerly conceived): opposed to inland. Obs. rare.
| 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 12 By the Sea, wee understand the whole Sea, as well the Main Ocean or Out⁓land Seas, as those which are within-land as the Mediterranean, Adriatic, ægean..and Baltick seas. |