Revised 2004
out of sightadverb, adjective, & noun
Factsheet
What does the phrase out of sight mean?
There are six meanings listed in OED's entry for the phrase out of sight. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.
How common is the phrase out of sight?
About 3occurrences per million words in modern written English
| 1750 | 0.049 |
| 1760 | 0.05 |
| 1770 | 0.089 |
| 1780 | 0.14 |
| 1790 | 0.76 |
| 1800 | 1.6 |
| 1810 | 2.6 |
| 1820 | 3.2 |
| 1830 | 3.8 |
| 1840 | 4.3 |
| 1850 | 4.9 |
| 1860 | 5.6 |
| 1870 | 6.2 |
| 1880 | 6.8 |
| 1890 | 6.8 |
| 1900 | 6.3 |
| 1910 | 5.5 |
| 1920 | 4.9 |
| 1930 | 4.6 |
| 1940 | 4.1 |
| 1950 | 3.6 |
| 1960 | 2.9 |
| 1970 | 2.3 |
| 1980 | 1.9 |
| 1990 | 2.6 |
| 2000 | 3.4 |
| 2010 | 4.2 |
How is the phrase out of sight pronounced?
British English
/ˌaʊtəvˈsʌɪt/
ow-tuhv-SIGHT
U.S. English
/ˌaʊdə(v)ˈsaɪt/
ow-duhv-SIGHT
Where does the phrase out of sight come from?
Earliest known use
Middle English
The earliest known use of the phrase out of sight is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).
OED's earliest evidence for out of sight is from around 1425, in Arthur.
out of sight is formed within English, by compounding.
Etymons: out of prep., sight n.1
Nearby entries
- outoffice, n.1630–
- out-of-humoured, adj.1675–89
- out-of-humourness, n.1803
- out-of-livery, adj.1833–46
- out of place, adv. & adj.1560–
- out of print, adv., adj., & n.1580–
- out-of-province, adj.1850–
- out-of-round, adj. & n.1734–
- out-of-roundness, n.1906–
- out-of-series, adj.1952–
- out of sight, adv., adj., & n.c1425–
- out-of-state, adj.1898–
- out-of-stater, n.1938–
- out-of-the-way, adj., adv., & n.1675–
- out-of-the-wayness, n.1800–
- out-of-the-worldish, adj.1825
- out-of-the-worldly, adj.1895
- out of time, adv. & adj.a1325–
- out of touch, adv. & adj.1883–
- out of town, adv., adj., & n.?c1225–
- out-of-towner, n.a1911–
Etymology
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Meaning & use
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Pronunciation
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Forms
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Frequency
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Compounds & derived words
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Entry history for out of sight, adv., adj., & n.
out of sight, adv., adj., & n. was revised in December 2004.
out of sight, adv., adj., & n. was last modified in July 2023.
oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:
- further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
- new senses, phrases, and quotations.
Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into out of sight, adv., adj., & n. in July 2023.
Earlier versions of this entry were published in:
A Supplement to the OED, Volume III (1982)
OED Second Edition (1989)
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Citation details
Factsheet for out of sight, adv., adj., & n.
Browse entry
Nearby entries
- outoffice, n.1630–
- out-of-humoured, adj.1675–89
- out-of-humourness, n.1803
- out-of-livery, adj.1833–46
- out of place, adv. & adj.1560–
- out of print, adv., adj., & n.1580–
- out-of-province, adj.1850–
- out-of-round, adj. & n.1734–
- out-of-roundness, n.1906–
- out-of-series, adj.1952–
- out of sight, adv., adj., & n.c1425–
- out-of-state, adj.1898–
- out-of-stater, n.1938–
- out-of-the-way, adj., adv., & n.1675–
- out-of-the-wayness, n.1800–
- out-of-the-worldish, adj.1825
- out-of-the-worldly, adj.1895
- out of time, adv. & adj.a1325–
- out of touch, adv. & adj.1883–
- out of town, adv., adj., & n.?c1225–
- out-of-towner, n.a1911–
