Etymograph

English

exit

Exit comes from Middle English exit, from Latin exitus ‘departure, going out’, from exeō ‘to go out’ (ex- + eō ‘to go’).

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘to go’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexeō‘to depart, exit’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexitus‘departure, going out’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500exit
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘to go’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexeō‘to depart, exit’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexitus‘departure, going out’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500exit
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “All the world's a ſtage, / And all the…”

The story

Exeō is derived from ex- (prefix meaning ‘out, away’) + eō (‘to go’) (ultimately from ). The English word is cognate with Italian esito, Portuguese êxito, Spanish éxito.

Linked words

through Latin eō

initial, transition, ambitious, ambition, ambient, trance, transient, obituary, eyre, sedition, ambiance, transitive, transitory, seditious, praetorian, praetor, ambit, obit, 24 more

through Latin exeō ‘to depart, exit’

issue, 7 more

Another origin of exit

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘go’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexeō‘to depart, exit’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexit
  4. Englishtodaysame form

Today it means

noun An act of going out or going away, or leaving; a departure.

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

Etymograph / Latin eō / exit

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