Outserts

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Printed materials or promotional inserts designed to extend beyond the edge of a publication or package
2. Items that are added to traditional publications to serve as advertisements or informational supplements
3. Materials that protrude from the main body of a document, enhancing visibility and reach for marketing purposes

Etymology: "Outserts" is the plural of "outsert," a printed promotional insert, and its history is a case of word-building by analogy. The noun is a blend of "out" and "insert," but the reasoning behind it runs backward: "insert" itself is built from "in" plus a Latin-derived stem, so "out" and "in" are being set against each other. Someone who sees "insert" as "in-" plus a root can simply swap in "out-" to get a pair that sounds like a natural opposite. The result is a term that looks like a native formation but is really a piece of printing-trade logic. An outsert is a page or card placed outside the folded sheets of a publication, such as a magazine or mailing, rather than tucked inside them. The contrast with "insert" makes the word self-explanatory to anyone in the business, which is why it was coined rather than borrowed from an older vocabulary.

Synonyms: inserts, attachments, add-ons