e

Forms

ē (+ ablative)^[1]

Etymology

It is the form of ex “out of” used before consonants.^[2][1] De Vaan explains ⟨ē-⟩ from ⟨*egz-⟩, the variant of ⟨*eks⟩ before voiced consonants (⟨b d g l m n r⟩ and consonantal ⟨i u⟩).^[3] The preposition is inherited from Proto-Italic *eks (“out”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs (“out”).^[3][1]

Cognate with Oscan ee-, Umbrian ehe (“out of”), Ancient Greek ἐξ (ex, “out of”), Old Irish ess- (“out”) and Lithuanian iš (“out of, from”).^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus writes intereā ē portū nostra nāvis solvitur, “meanwhile our ship sets sail from the harbour”;^[4] the preposition itself is found from the Twelve Tables and Livius Andronicus on.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Ē has the senses of ex: “out of, from” in space, “from, since” in time, the material or source something comes from, and “in accordance with”.^[4][2] As a prefix ē- appears in compounds such as ēveniō and ēdormiō.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The preposition ex is used in the Twelve Tables.^[3][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: ē portū.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes ex and ē side by side: ex corporum vinculīs tamquam ē carcere.^[4][5]

Meanings

Preposition

1. (with ablative) out of, from (= ex, before consonants).^[4][1]
2. From, since (a time).^[4]
3. Of, made of; from among.^[4]
4. In accordance with;^[4] ē rē pūblicā, in the public interest.^[4]

Related words

• ex
• ex-
• extrā

Usage notes

Before vowels only ex is used; before consonants ex is also commoner than ē (in Cicero's Republic ē occurs 19 times and ex 61 times), and no rule decides between them.^[4][2] Some phrases keep one form: ex parte, ex sententiā, ex tempore, but ē regiōne, ē rē nātā, ē vestīgiō and ē mediō.^[4]

Ē is also the name of the letter E, an indeclinable neuter or feminine.^[4][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de