exhibit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪɡˈzɪbɪt/, /ɛɡ-/ (UK); /ɪɡˈzɪbɪt/, /ɛɡ-/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English exhibiten, borrowed from Latin exhibitus, the past participle of exhibēre (“to hold out, show, display”),^[2][3][4] from ex (“out”) and habēre (“to hold”) (see habit).^[3][2] Barnhart considers it very likely a back-formation from the earlier exhibition.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To offer or present to view: 1447 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[2][3] NODE gives the first senses as to submit for consideration and to present a document as evidence in court.^[5]

Semantic evolution

To offer, furnish or administer is a 15th-century sense now obsolete, and to submit to view or display from the 16th century.^[6] The noun, a document or object produced as evidence in court, is from the 1620s (1626 in the OED),^[3][7] and Exhibit A, the first piece of evidence, from 1902, figuratively an important example by 1906.^[7][3] Something displayed publicly, as in a museum, is from 1862.^[2]

Timeline

• 1447 – to present to view.^[2]
• 16th century – to display.^[6]
• 1626 – evidence in court (noun).^[7]
• 1862 – an object on display.^[2]
• 1902 – Exhibit A.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To show publicly in an exhibition or competition.
2. To show or display a quality or symptom.
3. (law) To present as evidence.

Noun

1. An object or collection displayed in a museum or gallery.
2. (law) A document or object produced in court as evidence.
3. (chiefly North American) An exhibition.

Word family

• exhibitor
• exhibitive
• exhibitory
• exhibitable
• unexhibited
• reexhibit

Related words

• exhibition
• exhibitionist
• inhibit
• inhibitor
• prohibit
• habit

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press