English
examinate
Examinate comes from Latin examinatus ‘weighed, considered, having been considered’, and goes back to agō ‘to drive’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagō1‘to drive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexāmen2‘a consideration, an examining’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexāminō3‘consider’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexaminatus4‘weighed, considered, having been considered’
- Englishearliest quotation 1609examinate4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin examen
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin examino
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin examinatus
- 4 Wiktionary, English examinate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, The Roman Historie: “To this the tormentors[…]fastened the armes and feet of…”.
Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEagōWiktionary, Latin examen‘to drive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexāmenWiktionary, Latin examino‘a consideration, an examining’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexāminōWiktionary, Latin examinatus‘consider’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexaminatusWiktionary, English examinate‘weighed, considered, having been considered’
- Englishearliest quotation 1609examinateWiktionary, English examinate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1609, Ammianus Marcellinus, The Roman Historie: “To this the tormentors[…]fastened the armes and feet of…”
Linked words
through Latin agō ‘to drive’
act, action, active, agency, activity, actual, agent, actor, agenda, activate, ambiguous, agile, agility, squat, assay, enact, ambiguity, agitation, radium, cogent, actuator, actuation, redact, exigent, actuate, inexact, 97 more
Today it means
noun One who is subjected to examination.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “examinate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin examen, Latin examino, Latin examinatus. 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 / Latin agō / examinate