What does outgo mean?
An outgo is money that is spent or paid out. In modern use, the word appears most often in the plural outgoes, particularly when discussing a business, charity, household, or public institution and referring to its expenses as a whole. For example, a company may compare its income with its outgoes, while a charity may report that its largest outgo is grants to community projects. The term has a distinctly British and especially Scottish association and is much less common in American English, where expenditure, expenses, and spending are generally preferred. Although outgo sounds like the opposite of income, it need not refer to every payment equally; the established contrast is between incoming funds and money leaving an organization or person. An archaic verb form also exists, meaning to go out, but the plural noun is the headword's dominant modern usage.
An expenditure or outgoing payment, especially when considered collectively.
"The monthly outgo exceeded what the club had expected."
The plural outgoes is especially common in financial, institutional, and Scottish usage.
Archaic: to go out.
"The messenger outgoes into the storm."
This is an archaic or literary form and is not part of ordinary modern usage.
The plural is commonly used when referring to an organization's total expenditure or recurring expenses.
"The charity's annual outgoes exceeded its donations for the first time."
Outgo is the account-book twin of income: money leaving the till, not money entering it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does outgo come from?
The word was formed in English from out and go, developing in Middle English for money that goes out or expenditure. The Scots noun outgang preserves a closely related form and sense. The modern plural outgoes and the derivative outgoings continued the same basic contrast between outgoing money and income.
Related word forms
How outgo is actually used
The noun is especially associated with Scottish and British financial usage, where outgoes often means recurring expenses. In contemporary American English, expenses, spending, or expenditures are normally preferred. The verb is archaic and means to go out.
Easily confused with outgo
Outgo means money spent, whereas outgoing can describe money leaving an account or a person who is friendly and sociable.
An outgo is an expenditure, while an outcome is the result of a process or action.