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exeo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word exeo

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₁ey-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɛk.se.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛk.se.o][1]

Forms

exeō (present infinitive exīre, perfect active exiī or exīvī, supine exitum); irregular conjugation[1] Perfect exiī, rarely exīvī, exit also stands for exiit in Plautus and Virgil.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from ex- “out” and eō “to go”.[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨eō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of going out.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to go or come out, as in Plautus; of things to issue, emerge, as in Varro; to escape, get away, as in Cicero; to go beyond a limit; to pass out of a condition; to die, as in Seneca; of time to expire, as in Cicero; of plants to sprout, as in Varro; to rise up, extend; to turn into, and of words to end in; to result; and with an accusative to go beyond, exceed, as in Terence.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to go out, depart.[6] It survives in Romanian ieși, Italian uscire and Old French issir.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of things issuing and plants sprouting.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of escaping and of time.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go out, come out; to issue, emerge.[2]
  2. To escape.[2]
  3. To die, (of time) to expire.[2]
  4. To sprout; to extend.[2]
  5. To end in; to result.[2]
  6. To go beyond, exceed.[2]

Word family

  • exitiō
  • exitium
  • exitus
  • perexeo
  • superexeo

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Exeo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exeo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·