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exsudo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exsudo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
70–19 BC Virgil, Georgics More words from the 1st century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin sūdō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin sūdō
Italian sudare
Spanish sudar
Latin exsūdō
From the same root
Latin dēsūdō ← sūdō
Latin sūdārium ← sūdō

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛksˈsuː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eksˈsuː.do][1]

Forms

exsūdō (present infinitive exsūdāre, perfect active exsūdāvī, supine exsūdātum); first conjugation[1] The OLD also records the spelling exūdō;[2] Lewis & Short add ēsūdō.[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ex- + sūdō.[2][1] De Vaan thinks sūdō (“to sweat”) was probably formed on a masculine noun Proto-Indo-European *suoid-o- (“sweat”), the source also of sūdor (“sweat”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest secure record is in Virgil's Georgics, where a useless moisture oozes out of the soil (exsudat inutilis umor).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Used intransitively it meant “ooze out”; used transitively, “sweat out” or “exude”: an olive gives off its dregs and a cheese its sour liquid in Columella, and a tree its sap in Pliny the Elder.[2][3] Horace used it figuratively of an orator who sweats over his cases, and Livy of a hard-fought contest, giving the sense “toil through”.[2][3]

In medieval Latin it was still used of moisture coming out and, figuratively, of toil.[5] English took the verb over as exude in the 1570s.[6]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, in the Georgics, uses it of moisture oozing out.[2][7]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of sweating over law cases.[2][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of toiling through a great contest.[3][7]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of an olive and a cheese giving off liquid.[3][7]
  • 1570s – English borrows it as exude.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To ooze out.[2][3]
  2. (transitive) To sweat out, get rid of by sweating; to exude (a liquid or product).[2][3]
  3. (figurative) To achieve with great toil, sweat over.[2][3]

Word family

  • exsūdātiō
  • English exude

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Exsudo.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exsudo. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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