example

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɪɡˈzɑːm.pᵊl/, US /ɪɡˈzæm.pᵊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English exaumple (earlier asaumple), borrowed from Old French example, a form of essample reshaped after Latin,^[2][3][4][5] from Latin exemplum (“a sample, specimen; a pattern, model, precedent”),^[2][3] literally “that which is taken out”, from eximere (“to take out, remove”), from ex- (“out”) and emere (“to buy, originally to take”),^[2][6] from Proto-Indo-European *em- (“to take, distribute”).^[2][6] It is related to sample, ensample, exemplar, exemplify and exempt.^[4][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earlier form asaumple is found before 1250, in a version of the Ancrene Riwle,^[3] and exsaumple before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.^[3]

Semantic evolution

By the late 14th century an example was a typical instance, a model of good or bad conduct to imitate or avoid, and a punishment given as a warning.^[2][9] An individual case is recorded from 1444,^[10] and an exercise or problem used in teaching from 1562.^[10] The verb, “to set a precedent for”, was used from the 15th to the late 16th century.^[4][11]

Timeline

• before 1250 – asaumple (Ancrene Riwle).^[3]
• before 1382 – exsaumple (Wycliffe Bible).^[3]
• late 14th century – a model; a warning.^[2]
• 1444 – an individual case.^[10]
• 1562 – an exercise.^[10]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. One that is typical of a group as a whole; an instance.
2. A pattern or model, as of conduct, to be copied or avoided.
3. A case that serves as a model or precedent.
4. A punishment given as a warning, or the one punished: make an example of.
5. A problem or exercise used to illustrate a principle or method.

Word family

• counterexample
• exemplary
• exemplification
• exemplify

Related words

• sample
• ensample
• exemplar
• exempt
• redeem

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary distinguishes example from instance, case, illustration, sample and specimen: an example typically represents the whole of which it is part.^[12]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin