The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
DOWN
Definition of DOWN
adverb
From a higher position to a lower one; downwards.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English doun, doune (“down”), from Old English dūne (“down”), aphetic form of adūne (“down, downward”), from earlier ofdūne (“down”, literally “off the hill”), from of (“of, off of”) + dūn (“hill, mount, dune, down”). More at Etymology 2 below. For the development from directional phrases to prepositions, compare Old Frisian dene (“down”, adverb, literally “(to the) floor”), Middle Low German dāle (“down, downwards”, literally “(in/to the) dale/valley”), whence German Low German dal (“down”). Compare also Saterland Frisian deel (“down”, literally “to/into the dale”), West Frisian del (“down”). Cognate with Scots doon (“down”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- Old English
- Middle English
- English
2 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
7th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
3.7%
of traced words share this origin (2,853)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, DOWN · 12 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Middle Low German, Scots.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
DOWN in OUTLIER
It has fitted 1 board so far. 43 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 111, 8 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 44 days.
First found by a player on Day 24, 13 June 2026.
Built from these letters
DOWN starts with D and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read DNOW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start DOWN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found DOWN?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 111 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER