different between oversea vs external

English

Etymology

From Middle English over-se, over see, ouer sea, from Old English ofer s? (literally “over/across (the) sea”); equivalent to over +? sea. Compare West Frisian oerseesk, Dutch overzee, German Übersee, Danish oversøisk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??v?(?)si?/
• Hyphenation: over?sea
• Rhymes: -i?
• Homophone: oversea

Adjective

oversea (not comparable)

1. (chiefly Britain) Alternative form of overseas

Adverb

oversea (not comparable)

1. (chiefly Britain) Alternative form of overseas

Derived terms

• overseas

References

• “oversea” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

English

Etymology

From Middle French externe + -al, from Latin externus, from exter, exterus (“on the outside, outward”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?ks?t?n?l/, /?ks?t?n?l/, /?ks?t?n?l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ks?t??n?l/, /?ks?t??n?l/, /?ks?t??n?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)n?l
• Hyphenation: ex?ter?nal

Adjective

external (comparative more external, superlative most external)

1. Outside of something; on the exterior.
2. Not intrinsic nor essential; accidental; accompanying; superficial.
   • 1850, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord

     The external circumstances are greatly different.

3. Foreign; relating to or connected with foreign nations.

4. (anatomy) Away from the mesial plane of the body; lateral.
5. Provided by something or someone outside of the entity (object, group, company etc.) considered.

Synonyms

• (not intrinsic nor essential): See also Thesaurus:extrinsic

Antonyms

• internal

Related terms

Translations

Noun

external (plural externals)

1. (chiefly in the plural) The exterior; outward features or appearances.
2. (programming) In the C programming language, a variable that is defined in the source code but whose value comes from some external source.

Further reading

• external in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• external in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• external at OneLook Dictionary Search