output
UK[ˈaʊtpʊt]US[ˈaʊtpʊt]
n
The amount of something produced by a person, machine, or industry
n
The information produced by a computer
v
To produce or supply something, such as information or results
Morpheme Breakdown
out
put
out
outward, external, away.
put
to thrust, push, place.
Etymology
The word 'output' is a transparent compound formed from two common English words, 'out' and 'put'. It originated in the early 19th century as a noun, directly describing the quantity of something "put out" or produced by a process, such as in manufacturing. The logic is straightforward: 'put' implies an action of placing or producing, and 'out' specifies the direction of that action as being external or resulting from a system. This clear, functional formation allowed the term to be easily adopted into fields like computing and economics to describe the results or products of any defined process.
Analysis
Structure: out + put
- out: Old English origin, meaning "outward, external, away." In this compound, it functions as an adverb modifying the verb 'put'.
- put: Old English origin (putian), meaning "to thrust, push, place." In this compound, it functions as the core verb.
Examples
The factory's daily output has increased by twenty percent.
The program generates a graphical output for the user to analyze.
The team will output the final report by the end of the week.