outwith
/aʊtˈwɪð/
"outwith" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“outwith” is uncommon English (frequency #65,372 among 1,431 “O” headwords), classed as a preposition. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,372
- frequency rank, English
- 1,431
- “O” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Outside; beyond; outside of.
Corpus desk
Index EN-outwith · outwith · English
outwith · rank #65,372 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #65,372
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,431
- PHOTO-FINISH overabundance
Nearest frequency peer: overabundance (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “outwith”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Orinoco
Orinoco
34,633 corpus weight
- Orozco
Orozco
34,632 corpus weight
- outwith
outwith
34,629 corpus weight
- overabundan…
overabundance
34,628 corpus weight
- overage
overage
34,627 corpus weight
- Owain
Owain
34,625 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “outwith” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | outwith |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Preposition |
| IPA | /aʊtˈwɪð/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #65,372 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “outwith” in English
Rare enough to double-check
outwith is uncommon English at frequency #65,372 among 1,431 “O” headwords, classed as apreposition, transcribed /aʊtˈwɪð/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Outside; beyond; outside of.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for outwith, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English outwith, outewith, a transposed variant of Middle English withoute (“without”). Cognate to Scots ootwi. By surface analysis, out + with. The correct English form is outwith, spelled O-U-T-W-I-T-H.
Definition
- 1Outside; beyond; outside of.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how outwith appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
All at once he’d wanted to buy a place there, but it had been too isolated for his wife – and outwith their means anyway.
2004, Official Journal of the European Union, 24.7.2004, C190/10, reporting on a judgment of the European Court of Justice. Finally, the Court failed to examine, and thus to show, in what way such differentiated treatment is objectively justified. The fact that it is the result of circumstances outwith the control of the Communities does not constitute su…
Etymology
From Middle English outwith, outewith, a transposed variant of Middle English withoute (“without”). Cognate to Scots ootwi. By surface analysis, out + with.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "outwith", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).