Etymologically
Log in

examen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 03:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ɛɡ.za.mɛ̃/[1]
  • /eɡ.za.mɛ̃/[1]

Forms

examen m (plural examens)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin exāmen (“tongue of a balance; weighing, examination”), a learned borrowing[2][3][4] which Rey derives from *exagsmen, from ex- (“out of”) and the root of agō (“to drive”).[5] The Latin noun is related to exigō, which had two senses: “to drive out”, behind the noun's sense “swarm”, and “to finish weighing, weigh exactly”, behind “tongue of a balance”, whence “check, examination”.[2][5][6] The same Latin word, inherited, gave essaim “swarm”.[5][1]

Littré notes that the final ⟨-en⟩ was once pronounced as in Latin, a pronunciation he already thought affected.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Tombel de Chartrose (1337–1339) in derain examen, the Last Judgement;[2][5] it is found again in 1372 meaning a close study of something.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The general sense of careful examination has lasted, in phrases such as libre examen, the right to accept a belief only after rational scrutiny, and examen de conscience, the review of one's own conduct, fixed towards the end of the 17th century.[5][7] At the end of the 15th century (1485, a royal ordinance) it took the sense of a test set to a candidate, used then of a master craftsman's admission.[2][7] With the growth of schooling in the 19th century the word entered many phrases (examen de passage, examen oral), and school slang shortened it to exam (1880).[5] The derived verb is examiner, borrowed about 1240.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1240 – The verb examiner is borrowed.[5]
  • 1337–1339 – Derain examen “Last Judgement”.[2]
  • 1372 – A close study of something.[2][6]
  • 1485 – A test for a candidate, in a royal ordinance.[2][7]
  • 1880 – The clipped form exam.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A careful study or inspection of something: l'examen d'un dossier.[8][9]
  2. (medicine) A medical examination of a patient, or a test carried out for a diagnosis.[8]
  3. An exam, a test or set of tests a candidate takes to show knowledge or ability.[8][1]
  4. Examen de conscience: a review of one's own conduct, especially before confession.[7][5]
  5. Libre examen: the right to accept as true only what reason admits.[7][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 258a
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert