Word.ws English Dictionary

externals

externals is the plural of external.

Meaning of external

Noun

external (plural externals)

  1. (plural-normally) Inessential or superficial features.
    • To a non-Christian who has never experienced but only observed the externals of Christianity, it appears to be merely another spiritual system, but to a person who has left one of the other religions and embraced the Christian faith, it is most definitely The Way, and all else pales to...1979 December 22, S. J. Harris, “Life And Spirit”, in Gay Community News, volume 2, number 22, page 5
  2. (plural-normally) Outward appearance.
    • They had been such declared, such personal enemies, that, even in a court, it seemed wonderful how a decent external could be given to their reconciliation.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 298
  3. A variable that is defined in the source code but whose value comes from some external source.

See all 14 meanings of external

Questions about externals

What is externals the plural of?
Externals is the plural of external.

Words near externals in the dictionary

  1. externalizes
  2. externalizing
  3. externall
  4. externally
  5. externalness
  6. externals
  7. externat
  8. externats
  9. externe
  10. externes
  11. externity

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: externals (page history and authors); external (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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