Outface

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To confront someone or something with boldness or confidence
2. To meet and challenge an opponent without fear or hesitation
3. To face a situation or individual directly and with courage

Etymology: "Outface" is a plain English compound, built from the prefix "out-" and the noun-turned-verb "face." The "out-" here carries the sense of surpassing or overcoming, so to outface someone is to outdo them by facing them down. The verb is formed in English itself rather than borrowed, and it sits within a large family of English verbs where "out-" means doing something better than or beyond another party, such as outrun or outwit. The "face" half has a longer road. It descends from Latin "facies," meaning form, appearance or visage, which passed into Old French as "face" and reached Middle English in that form. Its original notion was the outward look or shape of something, and over the centuries the word was extended to a person's front and then to a confrontation, as in facing a challenge. Combined with "out-," that confrontational sense became the basis of the verb's meaning: to meet a situation or person head-on and hold your ground with courage.