extern, a. and n.
(ɛkˈstɜːn)
Forms: 5–7, 9 externe, 6– extern.
[ad. L. extern-us outward, f. exter outside. Cf. F. externe.]
A. adj.
1. Pertaining to or connected with the outside; outwardly perceptible; consisting in outward acts; pertaining to the outward form; = external A. 1 and 2. Now only poet. (rare).
| 1537 in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. lxxxviii. 240 At that time it was necessary to have extern gifts. 1640 Howell Dodona's Gr. (1645) 68 If the Almightie would assume a visible externe shape. 1666 G. Harvey Morb. Angl. vi. 63 The Lungs..[are] very much exposed to extern and intern injuries. 1678 Gale Crt. Gentiles III. 145 The externe act. 1683 E. Hooker Pref. Ep. Pordage's Mystic Div. 78 The..extern exertions of the..visibl form of som Persons. 1882 M. Arnold in 19th Cent. Jan. 8 Pullulating rites externe and vain. |
| quasi-adv. a 1845 Hood Lamia iv. 90 Women—fair externe, But viperous within. |
2. Situated outside, not included within the limits of, the object under consideration;
= external A. 3. Const.
to. Now chiefly
poet.| 1598 R. Barckley Felic. Man i. (1603) 59 O man..that troublest thy selfe with externe things. 1642 Howell For. Trav. (Arb.) 70 Nor are the observations of the Eye any thing profitable, unless the Mind draw something from the Extern object to enrich the Soul withall. 1649 J. Ellistone tr. Behmen's Epist. ii. (1886) 8 The visible world being a procreation or extern birth. 1854 Jrnl. Roy. Agric. Soc. XV. 276 Materials altogether extern to an animal..are made to contribute to the maintenance of its life. 1868 Browning Ring & Bk. ix. 88 Your artist..broods.. away from aught vulgar and extern On the inner spectrum. |
| absol. 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 290, I feel the externe and insensate creep in On my organized clay. |
† b. Situated in or belonging to foreign countries;
= external 3 b.
Obs.| 1543 Grafton Contn. Harding 573, I shuld desire the helpe of externe nacions and countrees. a 1577 Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. (1633) 225 Souldiers..when they have no externe service..to occupie their busie heads and hands. 1605 Answ. Discov. Romish Doctrine 48 Any externe Prelate. 1656 Artif. Handsom. vii. 83 Those things of extern mode and fashion. |
c. Not belonging to a specified community; that is a non-member.
Cf. B. 2 a.
| 1866 Clerical Jrnl. 7 June 548/1 The matter..affecting the congregation alone, he put it to the good sense of extern visitors who might be present, not to claim a hearing. |
3. Coming from without, having an outside origin;
= external A. 4. Now
rare.
| 1533 Bellenden Livy i. (1822) 30 The faderis began to haif grete fere..traisting sum extern and uncouth violence of divers cieteis. a 1617 P. Bayne On Eph. (1658) 116 No extern help can make us bring forth good fruit. c 1645 Howell Lett. II. (1650) 103 It consisted in extern mechanicall artifice only. 1799 Lamb John Woodvil 111, Having a law within..He cannot..be bound by any Positive laws or ordinances extern. |
† b. Law. Not essential, accidental; in
phr. extern adjunct.
Obs.| 1592 West 1st Pt. Symbol. §36 G, Externe Adiuncts be those..in the contract, that may also be absent from it, but in it only when it so Couenanted. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxii. §5 Which are inherent and not externe. |
B. n. † 1. Outward appearance, exterior.
Obs. rare.
| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cxxv, Wer't ought to me I bore the canopy, With my extern the outward honoring? |
2. An outsider; one who does not belong to or does not reside in an establishment or institution:
a. gen. Also a foreigner; formerly,
† one of collateral descent.
b. A day-pupil in a school (
Fr. externe); also
attrib. c. In hospitals (see
quot. 1860).
d. In monastic use.
| a. c 1610 Women Saints 30 Being no Romane, but an externe and a Barbarian. 1666 J. Serjeant Let. Thanks 97 Not by Lineall Descendents..but a few Externs. 1823 G. Darley Lett. Dramatists in Lond. Mag. Dec., Joanna Baillie and young Beddoes, a female extern and a freshman. 1834 H. O'Brien Round Towers Irel. 52 The bungling of natives and the claims of externs. 1839 Fraser's Mag. XIX. 170 It would be worth gold..to any unlucky extern this pinching night. |
| b. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lii, An extern school grew round the old..foundation. 1853 C. Brontë Villette viii, The externes or day-pupils exceeded one hundred in number. 1890 Q. Rev. July 86 At the collège Mazarin..he followed [the courses] as an extern. |
| c. 1860 Mayne Exp. Lex., Extern, applied to patients, of hospitals, dispensaries, etc. who are not inmates; to out⁓patients; also to the assistants, dressers, etc. who attend such or who do not dwell in the institution. |
| attrib. 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 302 s.v. Hospital, The ‘extern maternity’ charities. |
| d. c 1610 Women Saints 169 Greate companies of kins⁓folkes, friends, and externes compassed her all-aboute. 1870 Contemp. Rev. XV. 590 If there were not some person representing the outer world, some extern, as the Catholics would say. 1887 Law Rep. Weekly Notes 32/2 No sister should seek advice of any extern without..leave. |
Hence
† exˈternly adv., outwardly, on the outside.
| 1568 Abp. Parker Corr. (1852) 325 Nothing hath chanced externly to her Majesty wherein her prudence shall be more marked. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. (1641) 28/1 Or stately Toombs, externly gilt and garnisht With dust and bones inwardly fill'd and furnisht. |