Etymograph

English

examen

Examen comes from Latin exāmen ‘the tongue of a balance, examination’, from exigō ‘to weigh accurately, to treat’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-1‘to drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵeti1‘to be driving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agō1‘to drive’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō2‘to drive’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexigō3as exigere‘to weigh accurately, to treat’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexāmen3‘the tongue of a balance, examination’
  7. Englishtodayexamen3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ago
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin exigo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English examen

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eǵ-Wiktionary, Latin ago‘to drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éǵetiWiktionary, Latin ago‘to be driving’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*agōWiktionary, Latin ago‘to drive’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagōWiktionary, Latin exigo‘to drive’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexigōWiktionary, English examenas exigere‘to weigh accurately, to treat’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexāmenWiktionary, English examen‘the tongue of a balance, examination’
  7. EnglishtodayexamenWiktionary, English examen

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- ‘to drive’

suggest, register, essay, acre, gesture, digest, congestion, agrarian, progesterone, gestation, ingestion, belligerent, ingest, agitate, axiomatic, agger, gerund, gestion, samaj, 126 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti ‘to be driving’

strategy, agony, antagonist, reactionary, axiom, antagonism, agonist, antagonize, stratagem, glucagon, agonize, 100 more

through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’

reaction, actively, transaction, radioactive, inactive, retroactive, hyperactivity, unambiguous, reagent, ambiguously, 78 more

through Latin agō ‘to drive’

act, action, active, activity, actual, actor, agency, agent, agenda, activate, squat, agile, ambiguous, agility, agitation, ambiguity, enact, radium, actuator, cogent, actuation, actuate, redact, inexact, 95 more

through Latin exigō ‘to weigh accurately, to treat’

exact, assay, exigent, 8 more

through Latin exāmen ‘the tongue of a balance, examination’

examination, examine, 2 more

Today it means

noun examination; inquiry

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “examen”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin ago, Latin exigo. 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 *h₂eǵ- / examen

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