What does output mean?
Output is a versatile noun for something produced by a process and, by extension, for the result generated by an activity. In business and everyday usage, it can mean a company’s production, a team’s measurable performance, or a specific deliverable. In computing, output is data printed, displayed, or transmitted by a device, while input names material sent to it. In economics and technical contexts, output may instead refer to the total amount produced, such as electricity, industrial output, or economic production. As a verb, output means to produce, yield, display, or transmit something. The term is generally neutral and technical rather than literary, but its broadness allows it to move easily between concrete products and abstract results. It is especially useful because it focuses on what a process yields rather than on the process itself, making it a practical term in reports, technical documentation, and ordinary discussion.
A product, result, or quantity generated by a process; in computing, data printed, displayed, or transmitted by a device.
"The plant has increased its daily output."
The sense can be concrete, as in manufactured goods or electricity, or informational, as in data displayed by a computer.
To produce, yield, display, or transmit something, especially information, energy, or media.
"The sensor outputs a continuous stream of readings."
The verb is usually transitive; "output" and "outputted" are both accepted as past-tense forms.
Use the plural for countable individual products or results; output is often uncountable when referring to total production.
"The different models have different outputs."
Output began as a literal instruction: to "put" something "out."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does output come from?
Output is a transparent compound formed from out and put, parallel in structure to input. It arose in early modern English for what was put or sent forth, and the noun and verb developed from that idea of bringing something into view. Its computing, economic, and technical uses are extensions of the general sense of a product or result.
Related word forms
How output is actually used
The noun is usually uncountable when referring to total production but countable for individual products. As a verb, it is normally transitive. Both "output" and "outputted" are accepted past-tense forms, though "output" is often preferred.
Easily confused with output
An outcome is the result of an event or process, whereas an output is the product, data, or quantity generated by a system or activity.