Etymograph

English

exonerate

Exonerate comes from Latin exonerātus ‘exonerated’, from exonerō ‘to discharge, unload’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃en(H)- ‘to onerate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃en(H)-‘to onerate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃én(H)os‘load’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*onos‘load, burden’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEonus‘load, burden’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEonero‘to burden, lade, load, heap up anything in anything’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexonerō‘to discharge, unload’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexonerātus‘exonerated’past perfect participle of exonerō
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500exoneraten
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1624exonerate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃en(H)-‘to onerate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃én(H)os‘load’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*onos‘load, burden’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEonus‘load, burden’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEonero‘to burden, lade, load, heap up anything in anything’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexonerō‘to discharge, unload’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexonerātus‘exonerated’past perfect participle of exonerō
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500exoneraten
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1624exonerate

Earliest quotation: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “I would examine the Caſpian Sea, and ſee where…”

The story

From Middle English exoneraten (attested in past participle exonerated), from Latin exonerātus, past perfect participle of exonerō (‘to discharge, unload; to exonerate’), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Exonerō is from ex- (‘out, from’) + onerō (‘to burden, lade; to load’) further from onus (oner-) (‘a burden, load’) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃énh₂os (‘burden, load’), from *h₃enh₂- (‘to charge, onerate’).

Linked words

through Latin onus ‘load, burden’

onus, onerous, 3 more

Today it means

verb To relieve (someone or something) of a load; to unburden (a load).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃en(H)- / exonerate

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