Etymologically
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exhibit

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 13:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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