Skip to content
Back To Dictionary

Dictionary Entry

external

Part of SpeechnounPronunciation/əksˈtɜːnəl/Word FrequencyCommon (5.5)Curriculum FrequencyLess common (1)

(chiefly in the plural) The exterior; outward features or appearances.

In a Sentence

The article includes external to support a careful argument.

Published Usage Examples

As he puts it in discussing the Sextus 'attitude to the external world, “His own deep skepticism leaves him in a state of epochê, not only as to whether there are any such things as ˜external objects', but even as to whether these terms of the Dogmatists have any intelligible meaning at all.”

And (not to mention your having discarded those archetypes) so may you suppose an external archetype on my principles; —external, I mean, to your own mind: though indeed it must be supposed to exist in that Mind which comprehends all things; but then, this serves all the ends of identity, as well as if it existed out o

This entry also appears in ReadingWillow Year 11 word lists, so students can move between the dictionary and year-level study sets.

Origin

From Latin externus ‘outside’, through Old French.

Common Phrases

world externalaffairs externalforces externalenvironment externalfactors externalobjects external

Poetry examples for external

Excerpts from the ReadingWillow English Library collection.

Poetry examples are still being gathered for this entry. They will appear here once matching poems are available in the library.