Etymograph

English

Brexit

Blend of Britain + exit, formed by analogy with Grexit.

A blend of Britain + exit

Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- ‘to do’

…

Latin Britannia

Old French Bretaigne

Anglo-Norman Britaine

Middle English Britayne

English Britain

Latin eō ‘to go’

Latin exeō ‘to depart, exit’

Latin exitus ‘departure, going out’

Middle English exit

English exit

The story

Blend of Britain + exit, formed by analogy with Grexit. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest attested use is on 15 May 2012 in a Euractiv blog post by Peter Wilding titled “Stumbling towards the Brexit”, formed by analogy with Grexit, coined on 6 February 2012.

Today it means

name Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Brexit

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