"E" Word Origins

expeditious

Origin

From Middle English expedycius (“useful, fitting”), from Latin expedītus (“disengaged, ready, convenient, prompt; unfettered, unencumbered”), past participle of expediō.

expel

Latin

From Latin expellere, "to drive out," from ex- ("out") + pellere ("to drive").

expend

Latin

From Latin expendere, "to weigh out, pay out" — a doublet of the word "spend."

expendable

Origin

From expend + the adjective ending -able.

expender

Origin

From expend + -er.

expenditure

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin expenditus, a form of expendere ("to weigh out, pay out"), plus the noun ending -ure.

expense

Late Latin

From Old French espense, from Late Latin expensa, related to Latin expendere — the same root as "expend."

expensive

Latin

From Latin expendere ("to pay out"), the same root as "expend"; has largely replaced the older word "dear" in the sense of "costly."

experience

Latin

From Latin experientia, "a trial, proof, experience," from experiri ("to try, test"), the same root that gives us "expert."

experienced

Origin

From experience + the past-participle ending -ed.

experiential

Origin

From Latin experientiālis, from experientia + -ālis.

experiment

Latin

From Latin experimentum, "a trial, test," from experiri ("to try, test") — related to "experience" and "expert."

experimental

Origin

From experiment + the adjective ending -al.

experimentation

Latin

From experiment + the noun ending -ation, ultimately from Latin experiri, "to try."

expert

Latin

From Old French expert, from Latin expertus, "tried, proven," the past participle of experiri ("to try") — related to "experience."

expertise

French

Borrowed from French expertise, built from expert.

expertly

Origin

From expert + the adverb ending -ly.

expiate

Origin

From Latin expiātus, past participle of expiō (“atone for”).

expiation

Origin

From Middle French expiation, from Latin expiātiō(n) (“satisfaction”).

expiration

Latin

From Latin expiratio, related to expirare ("to breathe out, come to an end") — the same root as "expire."

expire

Latin

From Latin exspirare, "to breathe out," from ex- ("out") + spirare ("to breathe") — the root also seen in "spirit" and "respire."

expiry

Origin

From expire + the noun ending -y.

explain

Latin

From Latin explanare, "to flatten, make level, make clear," from ex- ("out") + planare ("to flatten") — related to "plain" and "plane."

explainable

Origin

From explain + -able from Latin explanō (“to flatten, spread out, make plain or clear, explain”).

explainer

Origin

From explain + -er.

explanation

Latin

From Latin explanatio, "an explanation," from explanare — see "explain."

explanatory

Origin

From Late Latin explānātōrius, from Latin explānāt-, past-participle stem of explānāre (“to explain”). Displaced Old English ġereclīċ.

expletive

Origin

From Late Latin explētīvus (“serving to fill out”), from Latin explētus, the perfect passive participle of expleō (“fill out”), itself from ex (“out, completely”) + *pleō (“fill”).

explicate

Latin

From Latin explicare 'to unfold, unroll', from ex- 'out' and plicare 'to fold'.

explication

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French explication and its etymon Latin explicātiō, explicātiōnem. By surface analysis, explicate + -ion.

explicative

Origin

From Latin explicātīvus, from explicō (“to unfold, open out”).

explicatory

Origin

Learned borrowing from New Latin explicātōrius, from Latin explicō (“to unfold, open out”). By surface analysis, explicate + -ory.

explicit

Latin

From Latin explicitus, "unfolded, disentangled," related to explicare ("to unfold").

explicitly

Origin

From explicit + the adverb ending -ly.

explode

Latin · 1880

From Latin explodere, "to drive off the stage by clapping" — originally a theatre term for booing a bad actor off, later shifting to mean "burst violently" by the 1880s.

exploit

Latin

From Old French esploit, "achievement, profit," related to Latin explicare ("to unfold, accomplish").

exploitation

Latin

Borrowed from French exploitation, from exploiter ("to exploit"), from Latin explicare ("to unfold, deploy").

exploiter

Origin

Irregular adoption of French exploiter.

exploration

Latin

From Middle French exploration, from Latin exploratio, related to explorare — see "explore."

exploratory

Origin

From explore + the adjective ending -atory.

explore

Latin

From Middle French explorer, from Latin explorare, "to investigate, search out" — originally a hunting term meaning "to cry out," from ex- ("out") + plorare ("to cry").

explorer

Origin

From explore + the agent-noun ending -er.

explosion

Latin

From French explosion, from Latin explodere, "to drive out by clapping" — the same root gives us "explode".

explosive

Latin

From Latin explosus (the past participle of explodere, "to drive out") plus the adjective ending -ive.

expo

Origin

A shortened form of "exposition".

exponent

Origin

From Latin expōnēns, present participle of expōnō (“to expose; to exhibit, display, set out; to explain”), from ex- (“out, away”) + pōnō (“to lay, place, put”).

exponentiation

Origin

Ultimately from exponent + -i- + -ation. Perhaps from exponential + -ation.

export

Latin

From Latin exportare, "to carry out or away" — from ex- ("out") plus portare ("to carry").