It most certainly is, although you might get funny looks if you use it outwith Scotland. A detailed description of its usage would be outwith the scope of this Quick Answer, and might well be outwith my area of knowledge. And should my employers happen to stumble on this blog, I would like to assure them that it is written totally outwith my contracted hours.
You're probably beginning to get the picture. Most dictionaries, if they list outwith at all, usually define it as meaning outside, but it's a little more complicated than that. I think Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary has hit it on the head:
outside of something; not within something
It's usually this 'not within' or 'not part of', that we are stressing when we use this expression. I wouldn't say that this is a dialect word, being used rather in educated language, also known as Standard Scottish English. It is most often used in Scotland in quality newspapers, on serious programmes on TV etc.
In register I would say it is neutral to formal. You can see a selection of examples at the British National Corpus, link below, and I wrote a rather longer piece about it a few months ago, also linked to below.
Update - "outwith Scotland" etc
I've seen someone comment on one discussion board that this example is rather forced, and that he wouldn't use outwith in a geographical sense. I would tend to agree with him, neither would I, but it is used like this, especially in relatively formal contexts. Just google outwith Scotland, outwith Edinburgh, outwith Glasgow or outwith Aberdeen.
Google Books and Google Ngram Viewer
You can also check outwith in Google Books, eg:
Hat tip to xamuel.com. And here's a historical timeline of the use of outwith in a selection of Google Books, courtesy of Google Ngram Viewer - one of the best toys on the Internet.
NB. It is only used as a preposition.
It should also be stressed that outwith is only used as a preposition, whereas outside can be a noun, adjective and adverb as well as a preposition. So in Scotland we'd say:
- Archie's outside in the garden with the dog. (adverb) Not he's outwith ...
- Ewan's painting the outside of the house. (noun) Not he's painting the outwith ...
- Senga's got an outside chance of winning. (adjective) Not she's got an outwith chance ...
Related links
- My earlier post - Some words are simply outwith some people's understanding
- British National Corpus - random examples of outwith out there in the real world.
- outwith - Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
- outside (preposition) - Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Note especially: 3 not part of)
3 comments:
As an American child in Edinburgh some years ago, I got the idea outwith mean south since I constantly heard England referred to as "outwith Scotland". I have usually heard it used to refer to something nearby but not within. Whether that is pure chance or a subtle part of its meaning, I'm not sure.
In addition to "outside" it also has a meaning of "beyond" in the sense of remit, responsibilities, competences, etc, hence its political connotation, even more so nowadaysin the current situation.
I have always used it without any complaints from my clients, especially in legal translations.
@aliencowman - Funny you should say that, because last night I was trying to think which prepositions could possibly take an intensifier, and the only ones I could come up with were outwith, outside and beyond, e.g - That's completely outwith my remit; it's totally beyond me.
As regards the 'current situation', I think you are perhaps referring to whose competence the proposed referendum on independence is outwith or going beyond: Holyrood's or Westminster's.
(Note for non-natives, Holyrood is the home of the Scottish parliament, and Westminster the home of the UK parliament. The media often use these names to refer to the two parliaments.)
For those living outwith or beyond Scottish borders, here are a couple of reports from Scottish newspapers on this wee wrangle between Edinburgh and London: The Herald, and The Scotsman. And you can read the background to the whole affair at Wikipedia.
@J.R.Tomlin - As I said earlier, I don't think I've ever used it in its geographical sense (except for just now), so it's interesting that this is the usage you remember the most.
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