Etymologically
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exitus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɛk.sɪ.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛk.si.tus][1]

Forms

exitus m (genitive exitūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from exeō “to go out” with the suffix of action nouns -tus.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Terence, whom he dates 190–159 BC.[4] The OLD's earliest citation is from Lucilius, of an end.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant going out, departure, as Caesar's troops cut off from going out to forage, and the means of exit, a way out, also of a difficulty, as in Cicero.[2][5][6] From Lucilius it meant an end, close, in Cicero the end of one's life, and in Varro the ending of a word.[2] In Cicero it meant a person's fate, a result, outcome, and the fulfilment of a promise.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant death, end, departure, exit, outcome.[7] Medieval Latin used it for a way out of a field or manor, and a military expedition.[8] It survives in Spanish éxito “success”, and with the Latin exit “he goes out” it lies behind English exit, from the 1530s.[1][9]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[4]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of an end.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a way out and of death.[2][4]
  • 1530s – English exit is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Going out, departure.[2]
  2. A way out, exit.[2]
  3. An end; death; the ending of a word.[2]
  4. Fate.[2]
  5. A result, outcome; fulfilment.[2]
  • exitiābilis
  • exitiālis
  • exitiō
  • exitiōsē
  • exitiōsus
  • exitium
  • exeō
  • English exit

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com