释义 |
▪ I. ex- prefix1 of Latin origin. I. repr. L. ex-, the prep. ex (see prec.) in combination. 1. In Latin the form ex- appears before vowels and h; also before c, p (exc. in ēpotāre, ēpōtus), q, s, t; before f it becomes ef- (in inscriptions ec-: cf. Gr. ἐκ); before other consonants (exc. in exlex) it becomes ē. All these various forms are represented in many Eng. derivatives; e.g. ebullient, effervesce, extend. An s following the prefix was in mediæval spelling commonly omitted, and this practice has been adopted in English orthography, as in exert, extinct; in some scientific terms, however, the s has been retained in order to exhibit the composition more clearly, as in exsert to protrude (etymologically = exert), exsanguineous, exsiccate. The euphonic rules affecting the prefix in class. Lat. did not prevail in vulgar Lat., the universal form being ex-, represented in Romanic by es- (see es-). In OF. and in ME., words with the prefix es- were occasionally written with ex-, after the analogy of words adopted from Latin; a few of these refashioned forms remain in mod. Eng., as exchange, expound. When it has primary or secondary stress, the prefix is pronounced |ɛks|; in unstressed position this remains before a (written) cons., though in southern usage |ɪks| is commonly substituted; before a stressed vowel the pronunciation is usually |ɛgz|, becoming |ɪgz| in southern speech; this rule, however, has many exceptions, chiefly in rare words and in words affected by the analogy of cognates differently accented. 2. The Lat. compounds of ex- chiefly belong to the following classes, all which are represented by English derivatives. 1. Verbs formed from other verbs; in some of these ex- has its primary force of ‘out’, ‘forth’, as in exclūdĕre, exīre (whence Eng. exclude, exit); in some it means ‘upward’, as in extollĕre (whence Eng. extol); in others it has the sense ‘thorougly’, as in excruciāre (whence Eng. excruciate). 2. Verbs formed from adjs., with general sense ‘to bring into a certain state’, as exacerbāre, exasperāre (whence Eng. exacerbate, exasperate). 3. Verbs formed from ns.; some of these are really formed on phrases in which ex governs the n., and have the senses to ‘to remove, expel, or relieve from (that which is denoted by the n.)’, as excūsāre, expatriāre, exonerāre (whence Eng. excuse, expatriate, exonerate); others have the sense ‘to deprive of (what is denoted by the n.)’, as excoriāre, excorticāre (whence Eng. excoriate, excorticate). 4. Adjs. formed from ns., with the general sense ‘deprived of something’, as exsanguis bloodless (whence Eng. exsanguineous); in imitation of these, many terms of mod. science have been formed in which ex- has the non-Latin sense ‘destitute of’, as exalbuminous, exstipulate; the form e- (see e- prefix3) has however more frequently been employed, even where Lat. euphony would require ex-, as in ecaudate. II. ex- (with hyphen) prefixed to Eng. words. 3. Prefixed to titles of office or dignity, to form designations for persons who have formerly held the position in question. In more restricted sense these compounds denote the immediate predecessor (when still living) of the present holder of the position. After the analogy of these words, ex- is prefixed indiscriminately, with the sense expressed by ‘former’, ‘sometime’, ‘quondam’, to ns. designating persons with respect to their calling, station, character, or the like, as ex-wife.[On the analogy of forms of expression like ex exsule consul, ‘(that has become) a consul from an exile’, the phrases ex consule, ex magistro equitum, etc. were in the Latin of the empire added as titles to the names of men who had filled the offices of consul, master of the horse, etc. At a later period these phrases gave rise to the compounds exconsul, exmagister, in the same manner as the compounds proconsul, proprætor had been developed from the older pro consule, pro prætore. In med.Lat. this usage was greatly extended, such forms as ex-Augustus (‘ex-emperor’) being of frequent occurrence. Some words of this formation (e.g. ex-professor) passed in adapted forms into It. and Fr., and on the analogy of these ex- was prefixed to Romanic words. The Eng. use, imitated from Fr., seems to have first become common towards the end of the 18th c.] 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. xlviii. (1495) 484 Ex⁓consul is he that leuyth the offyce of Consul. 1683Cave Ecclesiastici, Athanasius 80 Sending the Ex-consular Dionysius to be a Witness of their Transactions. 1793Burke Policy of Allies Wks. VII. 129 The ex-bishop of Autun. 1796S. Perry Argus 20 Feb. 368 This ex-mayor was brought into Paris..and conducted..to the mayoralty. 1805G. Ellis Let. 9 Jan. in Lockhart Scott, This is Frere—our ex-ambassador for Spain. 1806Wolcott (P. Pindar) Tristia Wks. 1812 V. 238 The mad ex-courtiers cry Thou old black sheep. 1815Wraxall Hist. Mem. II. 35 He eulogized Laurens, the American expresident, when a prisoner in the Tower. 1819Edin. Rev. XXXII. 52 The anti-commercial system of the Ex-emperor..has..been adopted..by his..successors. 1828H. Steuart Planter's G. 500, I shall beg leave, as a sort of Ex-professor of that art, to offer a few hints. 1839Thirlwall Greece III. 19 This body, at once a council and a court of justice, was composed..of the ex-archons. 1849Thackeray Pendennis xxxiv, An ex-beau about town. 1859Lang Wand. India 192, I was now alone with the ex-Commander of the Seik Cavalry. 1860L. V. Harcourt Diaries G. Rose II. 1 The ex-secretary for the Treasury. 1875Poste Gaius ii. (ed. 2) 206 The remedy of the ex-proprietor of the accessory is an in factum actio. 1876Gentl. Mag. XVII. 147 His ex-wife..is dragging out slow years. 1884A. Forbes Chinese Gordon ii. 48 Some were ex-mates of merchant-ships. 1891Daily News 16 Mar. 7/3 A husband or wife who has obtained a divorce has a right after it is granted to sue the ex-spouse for alimony. 1962Oxford Mail 19 Feb. 6/5 His daughter is in his ex-wife's custody. b. When the designation to which ex- is prefixed is a phrase, the hyphened prefix has the appearance of being attached simply to the first word. Hence ex- occas. occurs in actual combination with an adj., with sense ‘formerly’. ex-service(s) adj., having formerly belonged to one of the fighting services; of or pertaining to former servicemen.
1826Bentham in Westm. Rev. VI. 457 Ex-learned as I am, and, therefore, if ever, no longer learned—in the law in general, never learned at all. 1834T. Medwin Angler in Wales II. 184, I have heard him more than once tell of his rencontre with an ex-flogging Secretary at War. 1859Lang Wand. India 413 A score of ex-Thuggee officers. 1887Charity Organ. Rev. June 254 One of our ex-boarded-out boys enlisted some three years ago. 1887Pall Mall G. 21 Sept. 12/1 The 6,000,000 dols...is mainly made up of this ex-Russian capital. 1890Ibid. 14 Jan 2/2 Such nonsense..is unworthy of an ex-Liberal ex-Lord Chancellor. 1907Daily Chron. 5 Dec. 6/7 March of the unemployed ex-service men through the West-end of London to Hyde Park. 1910Vanity Fair 13 Jan. 55/1 Employment for ex-Service men is always a pressing question. 1940J. Betjeman Old Lights for New Chancels 25, I have my ex-Service man and Mamie's done a lino-cut. 1941Times Weekly 23 Apr. 12/3 (Advt.), Please send your donation to..Ex-Services Welfare Society. 1945Ann. Reg. 1944 156, Maori ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen can participate fully in all benefits. c. From some of these combinations ns. have occas. been formed by the addition of suffixes.
1793W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. XII. 82 Among the Prussian clergy, the alarm of ex-Jesuitism has nearly rendered orthodoxy disreputable. 1865Morning Star 29 May, The rage of the priests and ex-dynastists at the spirit, splendour, and immense success of the solemnity. 4. ex-party (nonce-wd.), the party of the ‘outs’.
1809Syd. Smith in Edin. Rev. XIV. 44 He should recollect that his Methodists are the ex-party. ▪ II. ex- prefix2 of Greek origin. The Gr. ἐξ out of, etymologically = L. ex- (see prec.) occurs only before vowels, as in the words adopted into Eng. in the forms exanthema, exarch, exegesis, exodus, exorcize, etc. Before consonants it is replaced by the related and synonymous form ἐκ-, which becomes ec- in Latin, and hence in the Eng. derivatives, as ecbasis, eccentric, eclipse, ecstasy, etc. |