Output Is What Comes Out, Input What Goes In
Output is what a system produces. The pair with input has been borrowed by economics, computing and everyday speech.
Output is what a system produces. Its pairing with *input* has spread from engineering into almost every field: economics measures output per worker, computing calls devices input or output, and offices talk about input meaning contribution. The pair is so useful that it has largely displaced older words like *produce* and *contribution*.
- What is produced. *Factory output.*
- Data from a system. *The program's output.*
- To produce. *The sensor outputs a signal.*
- Input — what goes in. *User input.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | output | Annual output. |
| Verb | output | It outputs data. |
| Opposite | input | Data input. |
| Related | throughput | System throughput. |
| Related | productivity | Rising productivity. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Output rose by three per cent.Economics.
- A printer is an output device.Computing.
- Throughput measures flow through a system.Not just what emerges.
Input, output and related terms
- Input — what enters a system
- Output — what leaves it
- Throughput — the rate of processing
- Productivity — output per unit of input
- Yield — the useful proportion of output
A compound of *out* and *put*, recorded from the nineteenth century in mining and industry.
Output or throughput?
Output is the total produced. Throughput is the rate at which material or work passes through the system.
Is *output* acceptable as a verb?
Yes, in technical writing. The past tense is usually output rather than outputted, though both appear.