external Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun outward features
- he enjoyed the solemn externals of religion
adjective happening or arising or located outside or beyond some limits or especially surface
- the external auditory canal
- external pressures
adjective satellite coming from the outside
outside; extraneous.
- extraneous light in the camera spoiled the photograph
- relying upon an extraneous income
- disdaining outside pressure groups
adjective satellite from or between other countries
international; outside.
- external commerce
- international trade
- developing nations need outside help
adjective satellite purely outward or superficial
- external composure
- an external concern for reputation"- A.R.Gurney,Jr.

L. externus, fr. exter, exterus, on the outside, outward. See Exterior.

Outward; exterior; relating to the outside, as of a body; being without; acting from without; -- opposed to internal; as, the external form or surface of a body.
Of all external things, . . . She [Fancy] forms imaginations, aery shapes. Milton.
Outside of or separate from ourselves; (Metaph.) separate from the perceiving mind.
Outwardly perceptible; visible; physical or corporeal, as distinguished from mental or moral.
Her virtues graced with external gifts. Shak.
Not intrinsic nor essential; accidental; accompanying; superficial.
The external circumstances are greatly different. Trench.
Foreign; relating to or connected with foreign nations; as, external trade or commerce; the external relations of a state or kingdom.
(Anat.) Away from the mesial plane of the body; lateral.

Something external or without; outward part; that which makes a show, rather than that which is intrinsic; visible form; -- usually in the plural.
Adam was then no less glorious in his externals South.

God in externals could not place content. Pope.