The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
SURJECTION
Definition of SURJECTION
noun
A function for which every element of the codomain is mapped to by some element of the domain; (formally) Any function f:X→Y for which for every y∈Y, there is at least one x∈X such that f(x)=y.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From French surjection, introduced by the Bourbaki group in their treatise Éléments de mathématique. Ultimately borrowed from Latin superiectiō (“a throwing over or on; (fig.) an exaggeration, a hyperbole”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
- French
- English
One recorded step before English.
Deepest traced root
5th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
7.2%
of traced words share this origin (2,111)
branch · 15.4% of traced words
How it is built
Its etymology also names Latin.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
SURJECTION in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 10 boards so far. 17 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 63, 22 July 2026. The most recent board was Day 142, 9 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 8 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 63, 22 July 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
SURJECTION starts with S and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read CEIJNORSTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram. It uses J - among the least common letters in written English.
Words that start SURJEC
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found SURJECTION?
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 63 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER