Etymograph

English

exist

Exist comes from French exister, from Latin exsistō ‘to arise, exist’, from ex- ‘out’ + sistō ‘to set’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘to stand’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-1‘to stand’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stísteh₂ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sistō1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsistō1‘to cause to stand; to set’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexsistō1‘to arise, emerge; to exist’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentexister1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1977exist1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English exist
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1977, Lawrence S. Wrightsman with Kay Deaux, Social Psychology: “Cognitive dissonance exists when a person possesses two cognitions,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steh₂-Wiktionary, English exist‘to stand’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*stísteh₂tiWiktionary, English existreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*sistōWiktionary, English existreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsistōWiktionary, English exist‘to cause to stand; to set’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexsistōWiktionary, English exist‘to arise, emerge; to exist’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentexisterWiktionary, English exist
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1977existWiktionary, English exist. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1977, Lawrence S. Wrightsman with Kay Deaux, Social Psychology: “Cognitive dissonance exists when a person possesses two cognitions,…”

A compound of ex ‘out’ + sistere ‘to set, place’

Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs ‘out’

Proto-Italic *eks

Latin ex ‘out’

Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- ‘stand’

Proto-Indo-European *stísteh₂ti ‘to be standing up, to be getting up’

Proto-Italic *sistō ‘to stand’

Latin sistō ‘to set, place’

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Today it means

verb to be; have existence; have being or reality

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “exist”. 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 *steh₂- / exist