How a thing turned out. An outcome is judged against what was hoped, which is why the same result reads differently to different people.
Old English ūt (out) + cuman (to come); an 18th-century compound naming whatever a process yields, judged afterward against what was hoped for it.
How a thing turned out, measured against what was hoped for it — which is why the same result can read as success to one person and shortfall to another.