From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishexternalex‧ter‧nal /ɪkˈstɜːnl $ -ɜːr-/ ●●○ W2 AWL adjective 1 outside partOUT/OUTSIDE relating to the outside of something or of a person’s body OPP internal the external appearance of the buildingFor external use only (=written on medicines which must be put on your skin and not swallowed)RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say outside rather than external:The outside walls of the building were painted yellow.2 effect relating to your environment or situation, rather than to your own qualities, ideas etc SYN outside Low birth weight may be caused by external factors, such as smoking during pregnancy. influences from the external environment3 organizationOUT/OUTSIDE coming from or happening outside a particular place or organization OPP internal information from external sources4 foreignFOREIGN relating to foreign countries OPP internal China will not tolerate any external interference in its affairs.external affairs/relations the Minister of External Affairs5 independentSE British English coming from outside a particular school, university, or organization, and therefore independent OPP internalexternal examination/examinerexternal auditors (=someone from outside who looks at an organization’s finances) —externally adverb The job should be advertised internally and externally.
Examples from the Corpus
external• external affairs• An external auditor is brought in to examine the accounts.• Zeno believed that people could govern their actions without the need for external compulsion.• Williamson would stand as Exhibit A for changed external conditions.• Apart from the domestic danger of a disenfranchised population, there is an external danger also.• In their view, corporate strategies fail because they consider problems in the external environment but not those internal to the organization.• Internal or external filters have many fans.• Most backpacks today have internal rather than external frames• Without external pressure, it is unlikely the civil rights abuses would have stopped.• Dickins has been resisting external pressure to resign as the head of the organization.• There are no external signs of injury.• Vertebrates do it by means of a backbone and internal skeleton, arthropods achieve structural rigidity by means of a tough external skeleton or shell.• However, cultural forms themselves are essentially external to human beings as actors.• Language itself is, however, learned through external transmission.• The external walls of the castle are beginning to crumble.external factors• A mixed picture emerged, characterised by a number of adverse external factors.• It is not influenced by external factors.• The truth is that behaviour is caused simultaneously by a combination of internal and external factors.• We examine why the road to our project might be closed by internal and external factors.• What has been done, and what is morally judged, is partly determined by external factors.• We are not internally controlled in our actions but more externally controlled, and one of the external factors is the guilt.• Firstly, changing external factors meant that many plans became rapidly out of date and so they could never be implemented properly.• The proposition linking external factors to workshop behaviour rested on the first three studies.external affairs/relations• The Caucasus alone would have been enough to incline him to seek peace in external relations.• It also proposed bilingual education in schools and the creation of a secretariat of external relations and an environmental agency.• Transmission depends not only on the external relations of the railway administrations with the government, but also on their internal structure.• The scrupulous delimitation of state powers found no parallel in the conduct of external relations, which formed a permanent exception.• Good external relations will be vital because the Freie Akademie is poor.external examination/examiner• Because of the devolved nature of National Certificate assessment, much more feedback is available than from a traditional external examination.• More senior pupils in schools can use a word processor to write up projects or dissertations for internal or external examinations.• Others feel that double marking is essential in order to be fair to students and external examiners.• The paper is corrected and assessed by the teacher and by one external examiner.• Most of our pupils will be ready to sit the external examination in May of S5.• Britain's teachers too would welcome more use of external examiners, to lighten their workload.• The subject examinations committee discusses moderations by the external examiner which may, of course, affect recommendations published in the examination booklet.• The first two will be assessed for certification by external examination while Investigating is assessed internally.From Longman Business Dictionaryexternalex‧ter‧nal /ɪkˈstɜːnl-ɜːr-/ adjective coming from outside a company, organization, or countrythe repayment of external debtsDomestic demand fell in the latest quarter, while external demand rose.Origin external (1500-1600) Latin externus, from exter “on the outside”, from ex “out” 