Origin: Germanic Old English prefix
Outdoors has 4 different meanings across 2 categories:
where the air is unconfined
"he wanted to get outdoors a little"
"the concert was held in the open air"
"camping in the open"
The environment outside of enclosed structures.
"The children spent their afternoon playing outdoors, running freely in the open yard away from the house."
In plain English: Outdoors is the space outside of buildings where people can go to play or relax in nature.
"We need to move our picnic indoors because it is starting to rain outdoors."
Usage: Use "outdoors" as an uncountable noun to refer generally to the open air or natural environment, rather than counting specific places. It functions as a singular concept describing any location that is not inside a building or vehicle.
Not inside a house or under covered structure; unprotected; in the open air.
"The children played outdoors all afternoon, laughing despite the cold wind that bit their cheeks."
In plain English: Outdoors means doing something outside where you can see the sky and breathe fresh air.
"Let's play outside since it is sunny outdoors today."
Usage: Use "outdoors" as an adverb to describe an action that happens outside without specifying a location, such as playing outdoors. Do not use it when referring to a specific place, where the noun form "the outdoors" or phrases like "outside" are required instead.
The word outdoors likely originated as a shortened form of the phrase "out of doors," combining the preposition out with the plural noun doors. It entered English to describe anything located outside or away from buildings.