Offside

How to spell offside

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce offside

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does offside mean?

1. adjectiveIn football, rugby, and similar games, being in a position where a player is not allowed to play the ball, typically nearer the opponents' goal than the rules permit.
2. nounThe side of a vehicle furthest from the kerb, which in Britain is the driver's side.

Offside in a sentence

• adjective

  The linesman ruled that the striker was clearly offside when the pass was played.

• noun

  The mechanic found a deep scratch along the offside of the car, near the driver's door.

• adjective

  The goal was disallowed because the forward had strayed offside.

• noun

  The offside wing mirror was cracked after the collision on the motorway.

Where does offside come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a straightforward English compound built from two very old native words, both of Germanic origin. The element 'off' descends from Old English 'of', an unstressed form of the preposition meaning 'away from', while 'side' comes from Old English 'side', meaning the flank or long edge of a thing. The word emerged in the nineteenth century within the developing rules of team sports, where a player positioned 'off' the proper 'side' of play was at an illegal advantage. From football, rugby, and hockey the term spread, and in British motoring it took on a second life describing the side of a vehicle that sits away from the kerb, that is, the driver's side in Britain. Because both halves are common little words joined without a hyphen, the only real spelling care is remembering it is written as one solid word, not 'off side'.

How the word is built

• off (away from, beyond)
• side (a flank or edge); a compound noun and adjective