外

Stroke order

Stroke order

外 (Kangxi radical 36, 夕+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 弓戈卜 (NIY), four-corner 2320₀, composition ⿰夕卜(GHTVHK))

• 𠰻, 𢫑, 𣳢, 𫟌, 迯, 𡎢, 䀤, 夞, 𡎥, 𡎦, 㔰

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 246, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5750
• Dae Jaweon: page 487, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 860, character 1
• Unihan data for U+5916

Historical forms of the character 外
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ŋʷaːds) : semantic 卜 + phonetic 月 (OC *ŋod).

According to 学研漢和大字典 (Kenkyūsha Kanwa Dai Jiten), it is also an ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) ; 月 originally represents a crescent moon (i.e. the moon with part “missing” to the observer). The character is thus interpreted as representing divination based on the partial phase of the moon, implying the remaining visible part of the moon is the moon's ‘outside’. (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

外

1. out; outside; external

   Antonyms: 裡 / 里 (lǐ), 內 / 内

   窗外  ―  chuāng wài  ―  outside a window

   外表  ―  wàibiǎo  ―  outward appearance

2. beyond; above; in addition to; other than; except

   此外  ―  cǐwài  ―  in addition (to this)

   十公里外  ―  shí gōnglǐ wài  ―  10 km beyond (a place)

   • 解名盡處是孫山，賢郎更在孫山外。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     解名尽处是孙山，贤郎更在孙山外。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Song dynasty, poet Fan Gongcheng (范公偁), 《過庭錄》

     Jièmíng jìnchù shì Sūnshān, xiánláng gèngzài Sūnshān wài.

     I found my name the last of the enrolled;
     The good master went a step beyond me.

3. other; foreign; alien (not of one's own family, clan, locality, school, country, etc.)

   外國／外国  ―  wàiguó  ―  foreign country

   外校  ―  wài xiào  ―  other schools

4. foreign country

   中外  ―  zhōngwài  ―  China and foreign countries; in and outside of China

   對外貿易／对外贸易  ―  duì wài màoyì  ―  foreign trade

   漢外詞典／汉外词典  ―  hàn-wài cídiǎn  ―  Chinese dictionary in a foreign language

   • 外平不書，此何以書？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     外平不书，此何以书？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Gongyang, c. 206 BCE– 9 CE

     Wài píng bù shū, cǐ héyǐ shū?

     Peace between foreign states were not recorded in the Annals. Why was this one exceptionally recorded?

5. (literary) to alienate; to other; to exclude; to distance

   見外／见外  ―  jiànwài  ―  to make me feel like an outsider (literally, "to have me excluded ")

   • 內其國而外諸夏，內諸夏而外夷狄。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     内其国而外诸夏，内诸夏而外夷狄。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Gongyang, c. 206 BCE– 9 CE

     Nèi qí guó ér wài Zhūxià, nèi Zhūxià ér wài Yídí.

     to deem one's own state "the in" and treat the other Xias as "the other", while allying oneself with the Xias and distancing oneself from the Barbarians.

6. relatives of one's mother, sister or daughter

   外婆  ―  wàipó  ―  maternal grandmother

   外孫／外孙  ―  wàisūn  ―  daughter's son

   外祖父  ―  wàizǔfù  ―  maternal grandfather

7. additional

   外加  ―  wàijiā  ―  plus

   外帶／外带  ―  wàidài  ―  to include (something) as well

8. unofficial

   外史  ―  wàishǐ  ―  unofficial history

   外號／外号  ―  wàihào  ―  nickname

9. (Hokkien, Teochew, after an amount but before the classifier) as much as

   二十外歲／二十外岁 [Hokkien]  ―  jī-cha̍p gōa hòe [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  20-something years old

Others:

• → Vietnamese: ngoài (“outside”)
• → Old Turkic: term
  • → Turkmen: öweý

• “外”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. outside
2. foreign
3. other
4. except

• Go-on: げ (ge, Jōyō)^{←げ (ge, historical)←ぐゑ (gwe, ancient)}
• Kan-on: がい (gai, Jōyō)^{←ぐわい (gwai, historical)}
• Tō-on: うい (ui)
• Kun: そと (soto, 外, Jōyō)、ほか (hoka, 外, Jōyō)、はずす (hazusu, 外す, Jōyō)、はずれる (hazureru, 外れる, Jōyō)、と (to)

Appears from roughly the Muromachi period,^[1] superseding earlier to reading (see below). Likely a compound of either 背 (so, “back, behind”, ancient reading found in compounds) +‎ 外 (to, “outside”), or 背 (so, “back, behind”, ancient reading found in compounds) +‎ 所 (to, “place”).^[2]

• (Tokyo) そと (Atamadaka – )^[1][3]
• IPA^(key):

外(そと) • (soto) 

1. (the) outside

   箱(はこ)の外(そと)

   hako no soto

   outside of the box

   外(そと)は雨(あめ)

   soto wa ame

   it is raining outside

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *poka.

Related to Baekje ホカ (*poka, “outside”),^[4] compare Korean 밖 (bak, “outside”).

• 他

• (Tokyo) ほか (Heiban – )^[1][3]
• IPA^(key):

外(ほか) • (hoka) 

1. other (things); the rest

• IPA^(key):

外(と) • (to) 

1. (the) outside
2. toilet

Middle Chinese 外 (ŋuɑi^H)

• IPA^(key):

外(がい) • (-gai) ^{←ぐわい (-gwai)?}

1. outside; external
2. except for

From Middle Chinese 外 (MC ngwajH).

• (Tokyo) げ (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

外(げ) • (ge) 

1. (Buddhism) non-Buddhist teachings or texts
2. (in compounds) external

• 外(げ)科(か) (geka): surgery (as a field of medicine)
• 外(げ)道(どう) (gedō): any non-Buddhist religion
• 外(げ)法(ほう) (gehō): any non-Buddhist religion; any non-Buddhist teaching

The printed form of this character often differs from its handwritten form; in the latter, the last stroke often does not pass through, as in the printed Chinese form.