examen French · revision 38548

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1337–1339, Tombel de Chartrose|origins=la agō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ɛɡ.za.mɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * /eɡ.za.mɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''examen''' ''m'' (plural examens)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|exāmen|t=tongue of a balance; weighing, examination]], a learned borrowing^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 258a) which Rey derives from [[m|la|*exagsmen]], from [[m|la|ex-|t=out of]] and the root of [[m|la|agō|t=to drive]].^(DHLF 1992) The Latin noun is related to [[m|la|exigō]], which had two senses: “to drive out”, behind the noun's sense “swarm”, and “to finish weighing, weigh exactly”, behind “tongue of a balance”, whence “check, examination”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The same Latin word, inherited, gave [[essaim]] “swarm”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Littré notes that the final ⟨-en⟩ was once pronounced as in Latin, a pronunciation he already thought affected.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It first appears in the ''Tombel de Chartrose'' (1337–1339) in ''derain examen'', the Last Judgement;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) it is found again in 1372 meaning a close study of something.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The general sense of careful examination has lasted, in phrases such as ''libre examen'', the right to accept a belief only after rational scrutiny, and ''examen de conscience'', the review of one's own conduct, fixed towards the end of the 17th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) At the end of the 15th century (1485, a royal ordinance) it took the sense of a test set to a candidate, used then of a master craftsman's admission.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) With the growth of schooling in the 19th century the word entered many phrases (''examen de passage'', ''examen oral''), and school slang shortened it to ''exam'' (1880).^(DHLF 1992) The derived verb is [[examiner]], borrowed about 1240.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1240 – The verb ''examiner'' is borrowed.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1337–1339 – ''Derain examen'' “Last Judgement”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1372 – A close study of something.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1485 – A test for a candidate, in a royal ordinance.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ * 1880 – The clipped form ''exam''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A careful study or [[m|en|inspection]] of something: ''l'examen d'un dossier''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A medical [[m|en|examination]] of a patient, or a test carried out for a diagnosis.^(Larousse)

+ # An [[m|en|exam]], a test or set of tests a candidate takes to show knowledge or ability.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Examen de conscience'': a review of one's own conduct, especially before confession.^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Libre examen'': the right to accept as true only what reason admits.^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[examiner]]

+ * [[examinateur]]

+ * [[essaim]]

+ * [[exiger]]

+ * [[la|exāmen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}