Outflow

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of a liquid or gas escaping from a contained space is one sense of this term, which may also refer to the release of resources or energy from a system and the general process of something being discharged
2. This term describes the process in which substances, such as fluids or gases, exit a specific environment, it can also describe the outpouring of materials from systems and the overall mechanism of expulsion
3. The movement of fluid or gas out from a confined area ; the sending out of resources or power from a source ; the broad action of something flowing outward

Etymology: "Outflow" is a plain compound: "out" joined to "flow," with the sense of something flowing out of a place. The verb it comes from has a long pedigree in English, first appearing in late Old English as "ūtflōwan," where the past tense was attested as "ūt flēow." It passed into Middle English as "outflowen," and the noun was later formed from that verb, so the verb came first and the noun followed from it. Because the word is built from two ordinary English parts, its meaning is transparent: whatever runs or pours out of a container, channel, or source. Its use for a flow of fluid is the most literal sense, and it is the sense that the word still carries most readily today.

Synonyms: discharge, efflux, emission, release, output

Antonyms: inflow, intake, input, arrival, introduction