English
expunge
Expunge comes from Latin expungere.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexpungere
- Englishearliest quotation 1893expunge
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexpungere
- Englishearliest quotation 1893expunge
Earliest quotation: 1893, Congressional Record: “The gentleman from Texas [Mr. CRAIN] asks unanimous consent…”
A compound of ex ‘out of, from’ + ex- + pungō ‘to prick’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ
Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰs ‘out’
Proto-Italic *eks
Latin ex ‘out of, from’
Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘to punch, fist-fight’
Proto-Italic *pungō ‘to prick, sting’
Latin pungō ‘to prick’
Every English word from Latin expungere
Today it means
verb To erase or strike out.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin expungere / expunge