extrinsic

English

Alternative forms

• extrinsick (obsolete)

Etymology

From French extrinsèque, from Latin extrinsecus (“from without, without, on the outside”), from *extrim, an assumed adverbial form of exter (“outer, outward”) + secus (“by, on the side”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛksˈtɹɪn.zɪk/, /ɪksˈtɹɪn.zɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

extrinsic (comparative more extrinsic, superlative most extrinsic)

1. external; separable from the thing itself; inessential
2. not belonging to something; outside

Synonyms

• (separable from the thing itself): See also Thesaurus:extrinsic

Antonyms

• intrinsic
• inherent

Derived terms

• extrinsical
• extrinsicality
• extrinsically
• extrinsicalness
• extrinsic reward
• extrinsic value
• nonextrinsic

 

Translations

external, separable from the thing itself, inessential

• Asturian: estrínsecu
• Bulgarian: външен (bg) (vǎnšen), несвойствен (bg) (nesvojstven)
• Catalan: extrínsec
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 外來／外来 (zh) (wàilái)

• Portuguese: (literally) extrínseco (pt)
• Russian: вне́шний (ru) (vnéšnij)
• Serbo-Croatian: ekstrìnsičan (sh)
• Spanish: extrínseco (es)

not belonging to, outside

• Bulgarian: чужд (bg) (čužd)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 非 (zh) (fēi)本質／本质 (zh) (běnzhí),非 (zh) (fēi)固有 (zh) (gùyǒu),外在 (zh) (wàizài)

• Indonesian: ekstrinsik (id)
• Russian: посторо́нний (ru) (postorónnij)
• Serbo-Croatian: ekstrìnsičan (sh), ìzvanjskī (sh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} estrinseco (it)

Noun

extrinsic (plural extrinsics)

1. An external factor

Further reading

• “extrinsic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “extrinsic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.