English
ex-
Ex- comes from Latin ex ‘out of, from’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *eǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*eǵ-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEex‘out of, from’
- Englishearliest quotation 1969ex-
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*eǵ-reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEex‘out of, from’
- Englishearliest quotation 1969ex-
Earliest quotation: 1969, Full Frontal Nudity: “This parrot is no more. It has ceased to…”
The story
For sense 3 (‘former’), compare sense 11 at Latin ex (indicates a change of state, (later) used before terms denoting an office to indicate that one has completed his term of office). It is probably a semantic extension from the sense of "out, away".
Linked words
through Latin ex ‘out of, from’
exchange, ex, squash, extort, extenuating, affray, enunciation, excommunicate, 11 more
Today it means
prefix out of
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *eǵ- / ex-