Etymograph

English

exigency

Exigency comes from Late Latin exigentia ‘urgency’, from exigēns ‘driving out, demanding, weighing, examining’, 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. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexigō3as exigere‘to demand’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexigēns3‘driving out, demanding, weighing, examining’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexigentia3‘urgency’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600exigence3
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1831exigency3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ago
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin exigo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English exigency
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “My business is with you, and you only. You…”.

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. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexigōWiktionary, English exigencyas exigere‘to demand’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexigēnsWiktionary, English exigency‘driving out, demanding, weighing, examining’
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexigentiaWiktionary, English exigency‘urgency’
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600exigenceWiktionary, English exigency
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1831exigencyWiktionary, English exigency. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “My business is with you, and you only. You…”

Linked words

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

register, suggest, essay, acre, gesture, congestion, digest, agrarian, progesterone, gestation, ingestion, agitate, ingest, belligerent, axiomatic, samaj, agger, gestion, gerund, 127 more

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

strategy, agony, antagonist, reactionary, antagonism, agonist, axiom, antagonize, glucagon, stratagem, agonize, 101 more

through Proto-Italic *agō ‘to drive’

reaction, actively, transaction, radioactive, inactive, retroactive, hyperactivity, unambiguous, reagent, ambiguously, 79 more

through Latin agō ‘to drive’

act, action, active, activity, actual, actor, agent, examination, agency, examine, agenda, activate, squat, agile, ambiguous, agility, enact, ambiguity, agitation, radium, actuator, actuation, cogent, actuate, inexact, redact, 96 more

through Late Latin exigō ‘to demand’

exact, assay, 9 more

Today it means

noun The demands or requirements of a situation which often demand immediate action.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “exigency”; 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- / exigency

Shirt and support for this word