▪ I. ˈouten, adv., prep. (a.) Obs. (exc. dial.)
Forms: 1 {uacu}tan, 2–3 uten, 4–5 owten, 4– outen.
[OE. {uacu}tan and {uacu}tane from without = OS. ûtan, OHG. ûȥan and uȥana, ON. {uacu}tan, Goth. ûtana, a deriv. of {uacu}t: cf. Gr. ἔξωθεν from ἐξ. In ME. reduced to uten, ute, and so app. confounded with ute, oute. It is doubtful whether the modern north. dial. outen (see E.D.D.), is historically connected with the OE. word.]
A. adv.
† 1. From without, from outside. Obs.
| 885 O.E. Chron., ælfred com utan mid fierde. a 1000 Andreas 28 æᵹhwylcne ellþeodiᵹra ðara ðe ðæt ealand utan sohte. |
† 2. a. Outside, on the outside, without. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §10 Ðæt treow biþ uton ᵹescyrped..mid þære rinde. a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 1322 Innan and utan eorðan lime ᵹefæstnod. c 1205 Lay. 5699 Fore alle þan cræften þe heo uten [c 1275 hii wið houte] cuððen. [1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss., Outen, out of doors.] |
b. Away, distant; absent, wanting.
| a 1200 Moral Ode 367 He is elches godes ful, nis him noþing ȝit uten [Tr. nis him no wiht uten]. 13.. Cursor M. 22886 (Edinb. MS.) Þe mar man swink him þar aboutin fra sped þe ferre he sal ben outin [other MSS. ute, out(e]. |
B. prep.
1. † a. Without, outside, away from. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2739 And sette hi[m] ðor vten ðe town. |
b. Out of; out from. dial. and colloq. (chiefly U.S. and Sc.).
| 1854 Laird of Logan 441, I cud get as gweed a yane onyday out'n a hedge at the road-side. 1867 ‘Mark Twain’ Celebr. Jumping Frog 38 He'd yank a sinner outen (Hades), And land him with the blest. 1895 Horse Rev. 31 Dec. 1840/3, I hearn Marse Henry cum outen de house lak he did in de days ob old. 1898 R. Blakeborough Wit, Folklore of North Riding 425 Sha tumm'l'd outen t' winder. 1926 [see feisty a.]. 1944 C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 197 They done left me outen it altogether. 1945 in Sc. Nat. Dict. (1965) VI. 511/1 Ye're aye tryin tae mak an auld wumman ooten me. 1976 T. Gifford Cavanaugh Quest i. 16, I come outen the elevator and I'm heading through the delivery hallway. |
† 2. Without, besides. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 653 Vten childre and vten wimmen, wel fowre and xx ðhusent men. |
C. Comb. and quasi-adj.
† 1. Comb. Forming advbs. as OE. {uacu}tan landes, ME. uten erdes in a foreign land, abroad. Obs.
| c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxiv. [lxv.] 8 Þeoda..þe eard nymaþ utan landes. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 956 And uten erdes sorȝe sen. |
† 2. a. quasi-adj. (This appears to have originated in combinations, afterwards sometimes separated.) Coming from without, foreign, alien. Obs.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1741 Laban ferde..fro caram in-to vten stede. c 1300 Havelok 2153 Wel to yeme, and wel were Ageynes uten laddes here. Ibid. 2580 Hise uten laddes here comen, And haues nu þe priorie numen. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xvii[i]. 46 Outen [Vulg. alieni] sones to me lighed þai, Outen sones elded er þai. Ibid. cxxxvi[i]. 5 Hou sal we singe sange..Ofe lauerd in outen land þat isse? |
b. Out-of-the-way, side-, by-. Obs.
| a 1350 St. Martin 259 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 155 Þai went þam till ane owten strete, For þai wald noght saint Martyn mete. |
▪ II. outen, v. U.S. dial.
(ˈaʊtən)
[perh. f. out adv. 22 a, 23: see -en5.]
1. To extinguish, put out, erase.
| 1916 Dialect Notes IV. 338 Be sure to outen the light when you go to bed. 1933 M. K. Rawlings South Moon Under 331 Outen that light. 1937 Amer. Speech XII. 205 The average [Pennsylvania German] speaker will employ in speech, and often in writing, all the forms ascribed above to the educated person, and in addition..such forms as ‘outen the light’, [etc.]. 1950 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. XIV. 50 Outen: v.t., to extinguish, as a fire. To erase, as writing on a slate. 1961 in Webster, You might outen the candles there. |
2. To come out with, utter, tell.
| 1951 L. Craig Singing Hills viii. 68 Finally Maje said, ‘Outen it, fellow. Give out what you know.’ Ibid. xiii. 126 There are words we want to outen and we can't. |