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outrance (oo-TRAHNS) - n., the extreme limit, the utmost extremity.
Now largely dead except in the adverbial form à outrance reborrowed from French, used to describe combat to the very end, i.e., to the death. The original usage dates to Middle English, either via Anglo-Norman or direct from Old French (I'm unclear on the timing here) oltrance, from outrer, pass beyond, ultimately from Latin ultra- -- and as such, a close cognate of outrage.
---L.
Now largely dead except in the adverbial form à outrance reborrowed from French, used to describe combat to the very end, i.e., to the death. The original usage dates to Middle English, either via Anglo-Norman or direct from Old French (I'm unclear on the timing here) oltrance, from outrer, pass beyond, ultimately from Latin ultra- -- and as such, a close cognate of outrage.
---L.
