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exuo

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exuo

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɛk.su.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛk.su.o][1]

Forms

exuō (present infinitive exuere, perfect active exuī, supine exūtum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- (“out of, off”) and a verb ⟨*uō⟩ “to put on” that is found only in compounds, the opposite of induō (“to put on”); exuviae (“stripped-off things”) and subūcula (“undershirt”) contain it too.[2][3] The OLD and Wiktionary compare Old Church Slavonic обути (obuti, “to put on (shoes)”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Menaechmi: sī nōn saltās, exue igitur, “if you won't dance, then take it off” (a cloak).[2]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is taking off clothes or anything attached to the body, and stripping off a skin.[2] It then means laying bare the body (Virgil's boxer strips his huge limbs), releasing someone from something, and pulling out a thing, as Statius' warrior draws the spear from his wound.[2] In war it is to strip an enemy of arms or a camp, as in Caesar's omnīs armīs exuit.[2] Figuratively it is to put away a quality or habit (Cicero: would you have put off all humanity?) and to cast off a relationship, as Tacitus' converts who renounce their country.[2]

Church Latin glosses it “strip off, divest, deprive, despoil, put off, deliver”.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of taking off a cloak.[2][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of stripping enemies of arms.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of putting off humanity.[2][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus of renouncing one's country.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To take off, doff (clothing); to strip off (a skin).[2][1][4]
  2. To lay bare, strip (the body).[2]
  3. To release, set free; to draw out (a thing).[2][1]
  4. To deprive (of arms, possessions, a position).[2][4]
  5. To put aside, cast off (a quality, habit, role or tie).[2][1]

Word family

  • exutio
  • exuvium
  • exuviae

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Exuo.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exuo. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·