Outgroups

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Distinct categories of individuals differing from the primary social population; groups that are regarded as separate and not fitting within the mainstream cultural context; classifications that reflect a divergence from the overarching societal norms and structures
2. Groups identified as separate from the dominant or primary community and often viewed as outsiders within social contexts
3. Categories of people distinguished from the central in-group, typically seen as outside the main cultural or social circle

Etymology: "Outgroups" is the plural of "outgroup", a noun for the people who fall outside a particular circle, whether a clique, a nation or a social category. The first half is the ordinary English preposition-turned-prefix "out", which goes back to Old English "ūt", meaning "outside" or "away from the inside". The second half is "group", which entered English in the 18th century by way of French "groupe" and Italian "gruppo", ultimately from a Germanic word for a clump or lump, the same root that gave the Old French idea of a mass of things gathered together. The compound is a plain English formation: "out" attached to "group" to name a group defined by its exclusion from another. Its literal sense is therefore simply "a group outside", and that is how the word still works.

Synonyms: external groups

Antonyms: ingroup