Etymograph

English

ex-

Ex- comes from Latin ex ‘out of, from’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *eǵ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*eǵ-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEex1‘out of, from’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1969ex-1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ex-
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1969, Full Frontal Nudity: “This parrot is no more. It has ceased to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*eǵ-Wiktionary, English ex-reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexWiktionary, English ex-‘out of, from’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1969ex-Wiktionary, English ex-. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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".

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin ex ‘out of, from’

exchange, ex, squash, extort, extenuating, affray, enunciation, excommunicate, 11 more

Today it means

prefix out of

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ex-”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *eǵ- / ex-

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