outgroup

English

Etymology

From out- +‎ group.

Noun

outgroup (plural outgroups)

1. (sociology) The group of people who do not belong to one's own social group.
2. (systematics) In cladistics, all the taxa included in a study that do not belong to the ingroup that is of immediate interest.
   • 2009 January 15, Martin D. Brazeau, “The braincase and jaws of a Devonian 'acanthodian' and modern gnathostome origins”, Nature Volume 457 No. 7227, doi:10.1038/nature07436:

     A cladistic analysis of 45 ingroup and two outgroup taxa was performed on the basis of 134 characters.

   • 2012, Dongyou Liu, Molecular Detection of Human Parasitic Pathogens (page 293)

     To study the genetic relationships among diphyllobothroid tapeworms, other members of the Diphyllobothriidae are considered, with T. solium as the outgroup.

Antonyms

• (systematics): ingroup
• (sociology): ingroup

Verb

outgroup (third-person singular simple present outgroups, present participle outgrouping, simple past and past participle outgrouped)

1. To form an outgroup.