E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Ut.
Saxon out, as Utoxeter, in Staffordshire; Utrecht, in Holland; “outer camp town”; the “out passage,” so called by Clotaire because it was the grand passage over or out of the Rhine before that river changed its bed. Utmost is out or outer-most. (See UTGARD.)
1
“Strain at [ut. “out”] a gnat, and swallow a camel.”—Matt. xxiii. 24.
