exemplary

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Late Latin exemplāris (“serving as an example or pattern”),^[2][3][4][5] from exemplum (“example, pattern, model”), the source of example.^[6][3][4][5] Etymonline takes it through French exemplaire,^[6] and the OED compares the French word, recorded in Old French from the 13th century, and holds that the sense of a deterrent punishment follows it.^[2] Barnhart thinks the adjective was probably the earlier noun used as an adjective, influenced by the French word and in some uses borrowed from it.^[7] The noun, a model or pattern, is inherited from Middle English exemplarie, also exaumplarie,^[5][8] borrowed from Latin exemplārium (“copy, transcript”), which in post-classical Latin also meant an example or archetype;^[2][5][3] the OED compares Anglo-Norman exemplarie, a variant of the source of exemplar.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, a model or pattern for imitation: before 1425, in the Northern Pauline Epistles.^[2] As an adjective, setting a good example, admirable: about 1507, in the Iustes of Maye printed by de Worde.^[2][5] Barnhart dates the adjective to 1589,^[7] Etymonline to the 1580s,^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1580–90.^[9]

Semantic evolution

From 1574 a punishment could be exemplary, meant to deter others;^[2][5] since 1593 the word has described what is typical of a class or serves as an illustration, and a thing used as a pattern or prototype.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as fit to be proposed for imitation.^[10] Trench complained in 1859 that it had become little more than a loose synonym of "excellent", and quoted Hooker's exemplary draughts or patterns, where it means serving as an exemplar.^[11] The general sense "excellent, outstanding" is now usual.^[2] The noun, used in the 15th century also for a copy of a text and for a symbol, is now rare.^[2][3]

Timeline

• before 1425 – noun, a model or pattern for imitation.^[2]
• before 1460 – noun, a copy of a text; a typical example.^[2]
• c. 1507 – adjective, setting a good example, admirable.^[2][5]
• 1574 – of a punishment, serving as a warning.^[2]
• 1593 – typical; serving as an illustration or as a pattern.^[2]
• 1626 – adverb, in an exemplary way (now obsolete).^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson: fit to be proposed for imitation.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Deserving to be imitated; commendable, excellent: The nurse was praised for her exemplary care of the patients.^[12][5][2]
2. Serving as a warning or deterrent: an exemplary fine; exemplary damages.^[12][5][2]
3. Serving as an example or illustration; typical: a case exemplary of the problem.^[12][5][2]
4. Serving as a pattern or archetype.^[5][2]

Noun

1. (rare) An exemplar; a model or pattern.^[5][3][2]

Word family

• exemplarily
• exemplariness
• exemplarity
• nonexemplary
• unexemplary

Related words

• example
• exemplar
• exemplificative
• exemplification
• exemplify

Usage notes

Trench warned that the loose use of exemplary for "excellent" hides the meaning of older passages, where it means serving as an exemplar.^[11] The OED notes that its first edition (1894) also recorded a pronunciation stressed on the first syllable, already obsolescent then and not found in any pronouncing dictionary since.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
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. ^ a b Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins