English
inexact
Inexact comes from French inexact ‘inexact (not exact)’, from Latin exāctus ‘driven out, expelled, having been driven out’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-‘to drive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō‘to drive’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexigō‘drive out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexāctus‘driven out, expelled, having been driven out’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentexact
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentinexact‘inexact (not exact)’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019inexact
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-‘to drive’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti‘to be driving’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō‘to drive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō‘to drive’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexigō‘drive out’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexāctus‘driven out, expelled, having been driven out’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentexact
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentinexact‘inexact (not exact)’
- Englishearliest quotation 2019inexact
Earliest quotation: 2019, Li Huang, Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilin: “At the same time, we were cognisant that careful…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’
suggest, register, essay, gesture, digest, acre, congestion, agrarian, belligerent, gestation, progesterone, ingestion, agitate, ingest, axiomatic, agger, samaj, gerund, gestion, 128 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’
strategy, agony, antagonist, axiom, reactionary, antagonism, agonist, antagonize, stratagem, glucagon, agonize, 102 more
through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’
reaction, transaction, actively, radioactive, inactive, unambiguous, reagent, retroactive, hyperactivity, ambiguously, 80 more
through Latin agō ‘to drive’
agency, action, agent, act, active, activity, actual, agenda, actor, examination, ambiguous, squat, agile, activate, examine, ambiguity, agility, agitation, enact, radium, cogent, actuator, actuation, actuate, redact, 97 more
through Latin exigō ‘drive out’
Today it means
adj Imperfectly conforming; exceeding or falling short in some respect.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- / inexact