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eximius

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word eximius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origins
Latin (ex-)Proto-Indo-European (*h₁em-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈsɪ.mi.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eɡˈziː.mi.us][1]

Forms

eximius (feminine eximia, neuter eximium, adverb eximiē); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is formed from eximō (“to take out, remove”) with the suffix -ius: “taken out (of the mass)”.[2][1][3] ⟨eximō⟩ is ex- with emō (“to take, buy”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *eme/o- (“to take”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁em-e/o- (“to take”), cognate with Umbrian emantur (“they may be taken”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Mercator: amāre occēpī fōrmā eximiā mulierem, “I fell in love with a woman of outstanding beauty”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense, “excepted, left out of reckoning”, is rare: Terence has utine eximium nēminem habeam?, “am I to make an exception of no one?”.[2][3] Of sacrificial victims it is “chosen as the best”, as Virgil's four choice bulls.[2] Usually it is outstanding, exceptional, remarkable.[2][1]

Döderlein says that ēminēns, excellēns and praestāns acknowledge superiority quietly, ēgregius with enthusiasm and eximius with admiration; all of them are used of good qualities, and of faults only in irony.[6] Church Latin glosses it “wonderful, priceless, extraordinary, select”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of outstanding beauty.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence in the sense “excepted”.[2][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of choice victims.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Excepted, exempt.[2][3][1]
  2. (of victims) Chosen, choice, select.[2][1][7]
  3. Outstanding, exceptional, remarkable, extraordinary.[2][1][7]

Word family

  • eximietas
  • eximiī

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c 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. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Eximius.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/eximius. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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