extrinsic

English

Alternative forms

• extrinsick (obsolete)

Etymology

From French extrinsèque, from Latin extrinsecus (“from without, without, on the outside”), from *extrim, an assumed adverbial form of exter (“outer, outward”) + secus (“by, on the side”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛksˈtɹɪn.zɪk/, /ɪksˈtɹɪn.zɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

extrinsic (comparative more extrinsic, superlative most extrinsic)

1. External; separable from the thing itself; inessential.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

2. Not belonging to something; outside.
   • 2015 September 9, June Quek et al., “Intra-rater reliability of hallux flexor strength measures using the Nintendo Wii Balance Board”, in Journal of Foot and Ankle Research‎^[1], volume 8, →DOI:

     1 Experimental set up for strength testing of the flexor hallucis muscle of the right foot To ensure accurate positioning of the hallux onto the load cell, and to minimise the influence of the extrinsic muscles of the foot (ankle plantarflexors and flexor hallucis longus) and the 2nd to 4th toes, a purpose-built wooden platform was constructed and positioned under the NWBB.

Synonyms

• (separable from the thing itself): See also Thesaurus:extrinsic

Antonyms

• intrinsic
• inherent

Derived terms

• extrinsical
• extrinsicality
• extrinsically
• extrinsicalness
• extrinsicate
• extrinsic motivation
• extrinsicness
• extrinsic protein
• extrinsic reward
• extrinsic value
• nonextrinsic
• unextrinsic

Translations

external, separable from the thing itself, inessential

• Asturian: estrínsecu
• Bulgarian: външен (bg) (vǎnšen), несвойствен (bg) (nesvojstven)
• Catalan: extrínsec
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 外來 / 外来 (zh) (wàilái)

• Portuguese: (literally) extrínseco (pt)
• Russian: вне́шний (ru) (vnéšnij)
• Serbo-Croatian: ekstrìnsičan (sh)
• Spanish: extrínseco (es)

not belonging to, outside

• Bulgarian: чужд (bg) (čužd)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 非 (zh) (fēi)本質 / 本质 (zh) (běnzhí), 非 (zh) (fēi)固有 (zh) (gùyǒu), 外在 (zh) (wàizài)

• Indonesian: ekstrinsik (id)
• Russian: посторо́нний (ru) (postorónnij)
• Serbo-Croatian: ekstrìnsičan (sh), ìzvanjskī (sh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} estrinseco (it)

Noun

extrinsic (plural extrinsics)

1. An external factor.

Further reading

• “extrinsic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “extrinsic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.