Etymologically
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example

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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
  • 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