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
Syllabification: out·sourc·ing
Audio Pronunciation
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
- Economic Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “outsource” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
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 June 5, 2023 (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 June 5, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/outsourcing/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“outsourcing.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 5 Jun. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/outsourcing/>.