Dictionary

outsource en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈæʊtˌsoːs/ (New-Zealand)
• /ˈaʊtˌsɔːs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈæɔtˌsoːs/ (Australia)
• /ˈaʊtˌsoɹs/ (Canada, General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úd Proto-Germanic *ūt Proto-Germanic *ūt- Old English ūt- Middle English ut- English out- English source English outsource From out- + source.

Meanings

1. (US, transitive) To transfer the management or day-to-day execution of a business function to a third-party service provider.
   • Outsourcing is a concept that Burnham has already criticised and rightly so. Many train operators outsourced jobs like checking tickets at the gates or cleaning the trains, and therefore the staff had no opportunity to move up through the structure of the railways into managerial jobs. 2026 August 5, Christian Wolmar, “Burnham offers a fresh perspective for GBR”, in RAIL, number 1067, page 21:
   • They decided to outsource the design and manufacture of the system to a vendor.
   • Read said maintenance would be outsourced, with "positive discussions" held with two companies. 2020 April 8, “Network News: Varamis plans electric freight to carry light goods”, in RAIL, number 902, page 17:

Forms

Deriveds

outsourcing · outsourceable · outsourcer · outsourcee · outsourcery

Synonyms

subcontract · farm out

Translations (28)

hu alvállalkozásbaad (ki) (transfer of business to a third party) · cmn 外購 /外购 (transfer of business to a third party) · pt terceirizar (transfer of business to a third party) · pt externalizar (transfer of business to a third party) · de auslagern (transfer of business to a third party) · es subcontratar (transfer of business to a third party) · cmn 委外 (transfer of business to a third party) · vi thuê ngoài (transfer of business to a third party) · it esternalizzare (transfer of business to a third party) · gl externalizar (transfer of business to a third party) · hu kiszervez (transfer of business to a third party) · ro externaliza (transfer of business to a third party) · cs zadávat subdodavatelské zakázky (transfer of business to a third party) · es tercerizar (transfer of business to a third party) · fr sous-traiter (transfer of business to a third party) · pl zlecić na zewnątrz (transfer of business to a third party) · is útvista (transfer of business to a third party) · pl zlecać na zewnątrz (transfer of business to a third party) · cmn 外判 (transfer of business to a third party) · fr externaliser (transfer of business to a third party) · fi ulkoistaa (transfer of business to a third party) · nl uitbesteden (transfer of business to a third party) · cmn 外包 (transfer of business to a third party) · it subappaltare (transfer of business to a third party) · da udlicitere (transfer of business to a third party) · ca externalitzar (transfer of business to a third party) · es externalizar (transfer of business to a third party) · sv outsource (transfer of business to a third party)