external Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun outward features
    • he enjoyed the solemn externals of religion
  2. adjective happening or arising or located outside or beyond some limits or especially surface
    • the external auditory canal
    • external pressures
  3. adjective satellite coming from the outside
    outside; extraneous.
    • extraneous light in the camera spoiled the photograph
    • relying upon an extraneous income
    • disdaining outside pressure groups
  4. adjective satellite from or between other countries
    international; outside.
    • external commerce
    • international trade
    • developing nations need outside help
  5. adjective satellite purely outward or superficial
    • external composure
    • an external concern for reputation"- A.R.Gurney,Jr.

WordNet


Ex*ter"nal adjective
Etymology
L. externus, fr. exter, exterus, on the outside, outward. See Exterior.
Definitions
  1. Outward; exterior; relating to the outside, as of a body; being without; acting from without; -- opposed to internal; as, the external form or surface of a body.
    Of all external things, . . . She [Fancy] forms imaginations, aery shapes. Milton.
  2. Outside of or separate from ourselves; (Metaph.) separate from the perceiving mind.
  3. Outwardly perceptible; visible; physical or corporeal, as distinguished from mental or moral.
    Her virtues graced with external gifts. Shak.
  4. Not intrinsic nor essential; accidental; accompanying; superficial.
    The external circumstances are greatly different. Trench.
  5. Foreign; relating to or connected with foreign nations; as, external trade or commerce; the external relations of a state or kingdom.
  6. (Anat.) Away from the mesial plane of the body; lateral.
Ex*ter"nal noun
Definitions
  1. Something external or without; outward part; that which makes a show, rather than that which is intrinsic; visible form; -- usually in the plural.
    Adam was then no less glorious in his externals South.
    God in externals could not place content. Pope.

Webster 1913