exclaim

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French exclamer,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} and perhaps directly borrowed from Latin exclāmō (“to cry out loud, call out”),^[7][8][9][2] from ex- (“out”), perhaps here an intensive,^[6][2] and clāmō (“to cry, shout, call”),^[6][4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *kele- (“to shout”).^[6][5] Barnhart and Etymonline also allow that it is, at least in part, a back-formation from the earlier exclamation, recorded from 1382.^[2][6][4] The first spelling, exclame, never became established, and the form was influenced by claim, like acclaim.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An outcry, as a noun: about 1489, already spelled exclaim, in Caxton,^[2] and late 15th century in the Shorter Oxford,^[8] whereas the OED's first record of the noun is from 1587, in J. Hooker.^[4] To cry out, as a verb: 1566 in Merriam-Webster,^[3] and 1570, as exclame, in P. Levens's Manipulus Vocabulorum in the OED and Barnhart.^[4][2] Etymonline says the 1560s.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Soon after the first records of the verb, it was used with a preposition for protest and complaint: exclaim of (1578–1624), exclaim at, on or upon (from 1583, now archaic) and exclaim against (from 1594, in Shakespeare's Lucrece).^[4] A transitive use, to proclaim loudly, ran from before 1593 to 1782.^[4] The use with quoted words is recorded from before 1616, in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 1.^[4] Johnson (1755) gives the verb as crying out with vehemence, and calls the noun "now disused", quoting exclaims from Shakespeare's Richard II.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1489 – noun, an outcry.^[2][8] The OED's first record is from 1587.^[4]
• 1566 – verb, to cry out suddenly.^[3] The OED and Barnhart have it from 1570, as exclame.^[4][2]
• 1578 – exclaim of, to complain loudly of (obsolete by 1624).^[4]
• 1583 – exclaim at, on, upon, to cry out against.^[4]
• before 1593 – transitive, to proclaim loudly (obsolete by 1782).^[4]
• 1594 – exclaim against, to protest loudly against.^[4]
• before 1616 – with quoted words.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cry out or speak suddenly from strong feeling, as surprise, pain or delight: The children exclaimed in wonder as the curtain rose.^{[11][3][4][8]}
2. To say something suddenly or forcefully, with the words quoted: “Look at the size of it!” he exclaimed.^[4][8]
3. exclaim against: to protest loudly against; to accuse or blame.^[4]

Noun

1. (archaic) An outcry, clamor.^[3][10][8]

Word family

• exclaimer

Related words

• exclamation
• exclamatory
• claim
• acclaim
• clamor

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins