An Outpost Is the Position Furthest From Home
An outpost is a small station far from the main force. The word began in the army and now describes any remote branch.
An outpost is a small detachment stationed away from the main body, or the place it occupies. The military sense came first: outposts gave early warning of an approaching enemy. Business and travel writing borrowed it for any distant branch, and the phrase *the last outpost* now suggests remoteness more than defence.
- A small military station away from the main force. *A desert outpost.*
- A remote settlement or branch. *The company's Asian outpost.*
- The furthest point of something. *The last outpost of the empire.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | outpost | A frontier outpost. |
| Plural | outposts | Scattered outposts. |
| Related | garrison | A garrison town. |
| Related | picket | A picket line of sentries. |
| Related | frontier | The frontier post. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The outpost was abandoned in winter.Military or exploratory.
- It is the firm's only outpost in the region.Business.
- The village felt like the last outpost of anywhere.Figurative remoteness.
Military positions
- Outpost — a small detached position, often for observation
- Garrison — troops stationed permanently in a place
- Picket — sentries posted to give warning
- Redoubt — a small enclosed defensive work
- Forward operating base — the modern equivalent term
A compound of *out* and *post*, in the sense of a place where someone is stationed. That *post* comes from Latin *positum*, placed — the same root as *position* and *deposit*.
Outpost or garrison?
A garrison is a permanent force holding a place. An outpost is smaller, detached, and usually there to watch rather than to hold.
Which *post* is this?
The one meaning a position or station, from Latin for placed. The postal service and the wooden post are different words.