examen Latin · revision 7291

16 Oct 2026, 13:31 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la agō}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ɛkˈsaː.mɛn]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eɡˈzaː.men]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''exāmen''' ''n'' (genitive exāminis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from *exagmen, from [[ex-]] “out” and [[agō]] “to drive” with the suffix [[-men]], related to [[exigō]] “to drive out, weigh”.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Some manuscripts of Virgil have the spelling ⟨exag-⟩.^(TLL)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of a swarm of other creatures and of things, and Varro uses it of bees.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC and Varro 116–27 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant a swarm of bees going out, as in Varro and Cicero, and a swarm or crowd of other creatures, as Horace's ''iuvenum exāmen'' “a swarm of young men”, and of things.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) From Virgil it meant the tongue of a balance, the process of weighing, and Isidore defines it as the middle thread by which the scale is governed.^(OLD 2012)^(Isidore)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a test, examination, agony, struggle.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it of an ordeal and of the Last Judgement.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Spanish ''enjambre'' and French ''essaim'', and was borrowed as Italian ''esame''.^(Wiktionary) Its verb ''exāmināre'' “to weigh, test” gave [[en|examine]] about 1300.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a swarm.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of bees.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a balance.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 1300 – English ''examine'' is recorded, from ''exāminō''.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A [[m|en|swarm]] of bees.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A swarm, crowd.^(OLD 2012)
+ # The tongue of a balance; weighing.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A test, examination.^(Stelten 1995)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An ordeal; the Last Judgement.^(Niermeyer 1976)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[exāminō]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[agō]]
+ * [[exigō]]
+ * [[agmen]]
+ * [[en|examine]]
+ * [[en|examination]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}