noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An onset; the beginning or initial stage of something.

   "He agreed and understood from the outset, so don't bother explaining again."

2. 2
   the time at which something is supposed to begin wordnet

Verb

1. 1
   To cause (a design element) to extend around the outside of something else, the opposite of being inset. Internet, transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms

beginningaalphaalphabetbe offbeginning

Example

More examples

"The meeting was held as intended at the outset."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From out- + set, replacing earlier outsetting.

Etymology 2

From out- + set.

Related phrases

at the outsetthe outset

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.