Outdated

How to spell outdated

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce outdated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does outdated mean?

1. adjectiveNo longer current, useful, or fashionable; belonging to an earlier time.

Outdated in a sentence

• The office still relies on outdated software that crashes every afternoon.

• His outdated contact details meant the invoice never reached him.

Where does outdated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is a transparent English compound built from the everyday verb 'date', meaning to assign or belong to a particular point in time, prefixed with 'out-', which here carries the sense of being past or beyond a limit. The noun 'date' came into English in the 1300s through Old French from the Latin data, the feminine past participle of dare meaning 'to give', because Roman documents were marked with the formula data, 'given', followed by the place and day of writing. The verb 'to date' something developed later, and adding 'out-' produced the idea of having moved beyond the period in which it was current or valid. 'Outdated' itself is a relatively modern formation, recorded from the nineteenth century onward, sitting alongside the older 'out of date'. The spelling is straightforward once you see the three parts, and the only mild trap is remembering the single 't' before 'd' rather than doubling anything.

How the word is built

• out- (beyond, past)
• date (point in time)
• -ed (adjective/participle suffix)