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outsourcing

Definition of Outsourcing

(noun) Of a business or government, the act or process of contracting an outside source, instead of internal employees, to do work (services).

Outsourcing Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: out·sourc·ing

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /ay-sek-shuh-wAl-uh-tee/
  • British English – /ay-sek-syoo-Al-it-ee/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /OUt-sor-sing/
  • British English – /OUt-saw-sing/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: outsourcings
  • Variant spelling: out-sourcing

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.

Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Kimmel, Michael S., and Amy Aronson. 2012. Sociology Now. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Outsourcing

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “outsourcing.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 28, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/outsourcing/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

outsourcing. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/outsourcing/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “outsourcing.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 28, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/outsourcing/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“outsourcing.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/outsourcing/>.