without.
Outside, externally.
Meaning & usage
Outside, externally.
Lacking something; failing.
Being from a large, poor family, he learned to live without.
We've run out of bread; you'll have to do without until I can get to the bakeshop.
Without a condom being worn.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). By surface analysis, with- + out. Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (“without”), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (“without”). Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *bez (“without”) (<+ Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs (“out”)).
Outside of, beyond.
Not having, containing, characteristic of, etc.
It was a mistake to leave my house without a coat.
I was without formal education but was well read and articulate.
Not doing or not having done something.
He likes to eat everything without sharing.
He shot without warning anyone.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). By surface analysis, with- + out. Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (“without”), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (“without”). Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *bez (“without”) (<+ Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs (“out”)).
Unless, except (introducing a clause).
Where this word comes from
From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). By surface analysis, with- + out. Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (“without”), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (“without”). Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *bez (“without”) (<+ Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs (“out”)).
Someone or something lacking in something.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English withoute, withouten, from Old English wiþūtan (literally “against the outside of”). By surface analysis, with- + out. Compare Dutch buiten (“outside of, without”), Danish uden (“without”), Swedish utan (“without”), Norwegian uten (“without”). Superseded non-native Middle English sauns, sans (“without”), from Old French sans, sanz, senz (“without”). Compare typologically Proto-Slavic *bez (“without”) (<+ Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs (“out”)).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.