offset

== English == === Alternative forms === off-set === Etymology === From off- +‎ set, used to construct the noun form of the verb to set off. Compare Middle English ofsetten (“to encumber, harass, beset, besiege”), from Old English ofsettan (“to press, oppress, overwhelm, crush”). === Pronunciation 1 === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɒf.sɛt/ (US) IPA(key): /ˈɔf.sɛt/ (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈɑf.sɛt/ Rhymes: -ɒfsɛt, -ɑfsɛt, -ɛt ==== Noun ==== offset (plural offsets) Anything that acts as counterbalance; a compensating equivalent. (international trade) A form of countertrade arrangement, in which the seller agrees to purchase within a set time frame products of a certain value from the buying country. This kind of agreement may be used in large international public sector contracts such as arms sales. (c. 1555) A time at which something begins; outset. (printing, often attributive) The offset printing process, in which ink is carried from a metal plate to a rubber blanket and from there to the printing surface. (programming) The difference between a target memory address and a base address. (signal analysis) The displacement between the base level of a measurement and the signal's real base level. The distance by which one thing is out of alignment with another. (surveying) A short distance measured at right angles from a line actually run to some point in an irregular boundary, or to some object. An abrupt bend in an object, such as a rod, by which one part is turned aside out of line, but nearly parallel, with the rest; the part thus bent aside. (botany) A short prostrate shoot that takes root and produces a tuft of leaves, etc. A spur from a range of hills or mountains. (architecture) A horizontal ledge on the face of a wall, formed by a diminution of its thickness, or by the weathering or upper surface of a part built out from it; a set-off. (architecture) A terrace on a hillside. ===== Translations ===== === Pronunciation 2 === (UK) IPA(key): /ɒfˈsɛt/, /ˈɒf.sɛt/ (US) IPA(key): /ɔfˈsɛt/, /ˈɔf.sɛt/ (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ɑfˈsɛt/, /ˈɑf.sɛt/ Rhymes: -ɒfsɛt, -ɑfsɛt, -ɛt ==== Verb ==== offset (third-person singular simple present offsets, present participle offsetting, simple past and past participle offset or (rare) offsetted) (transitive) To counteract or compensate for, by applying a change in the opposite direction. (transitive) To place out of line. (transitive) To form an offset in (a wall, rod, pipe, etc.). ===== Translations ===== ==== Adverb ==== offset (comparative more offset, superlative most offset) Away from or off from the set of a movie, film, video, or play. ==== Adjective ==== offset (comparative more offset, superlative most offset) Away from or off from the set of a movie, film, video, or play. ===== Derived terms ===== === See also === onset === Anagrams === set off, set-off, setoff == Portuguese == === Alternative forms === ofsete === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English offset. === Pronunciation === === Noun === offset m (plural offsets) (programming) offset (byte difference between memory addresses) (printing) offset (a printing method) === Further reading === “offset”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “offset”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Spanish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English offset. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈofset/ [ˈof.set̪] Rhymes: -ofset Syllabification: off‧set === Noun === offset m (plural offsets) (printing) offset ==== Usage notes ==== According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed. === Further reading === “offset”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025 Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “offset”, in Diccionario del español actual (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA