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 (eks); in unstressed position this remains before a (written) cons., though in southern usage (ėks) is commonly substituted; before a stressed vowel the pronunciation is usually (egz), becoming (ėgz) 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 ‘thoroughly,’ 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 sbs.; some of these are really formed on phrases in which ex governs the sb., and have the senses ‘to remove, expel or relieve from (that which is denoted by the sb.),’ as excūsāre, expatriāre, exonerāre (whence Eng. excuse, expatriate, exonerate); others have the sense ‘to deprive of (what is denoted by the sb.),’ as excoriāre, excorticāre (whence Eng. excoriate, excorticate). 4. Adjs. formed from sbs., 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- pref.3) 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 sbs. designating persons with respect to their calling, station, character, or the like.
[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.]
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIV. xlviii. (1495), 484. Ex-consul is he that leuyth the offyce of Consul.
1683. Cave, Ecclesiastici, Athanasius, 80. Sending the Exconsular Dionysius to be a Witness of their Transactions.
1793. Burke, Policy of Allies, Wks. 1815, VII. 129. The ex-bishop of Autun.
1796. S. Perry, Argus, 20 Feb., 368. This ex-mayor was brought into Paris … and conducted … to the mayoralty.
1805. G. Ellis, Lett., 9 Jan., in Lockhart, Scott. This is Frere—our ex-ambassador for Spain.
1806. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Tristia, Wks. 1812, V. 238. The mad ex-courtiers cry Thou old black sheep.
1815. Wraxall, Hist. Mem., II. 36. He eulogized Laurens, the American Ex-President, when a prisoner in the Tower.
1819. Edin. Rev., XXXII. 52. The anti-commercial system of the Ex-emperor … has … been adopted … by his … successors.
1823. Byron, Age of Bronze, xvii. And the ex-empress grows as ex a wife.
1828. Steuart, Planter’s G., 500. I shall beg leave, as a sort of Ex-professor of that art, to offer a few hints.
1839. Thirlwall, Greece, III. 19. This body, at once a council and a court of justice, was composed … of the ex-archons.
1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, xxxiv. An ex-beau about town.
1859. J. Lang, Wand. India, 192. I was now alone with the ex-Commander of the Seik Cavalry.
1860. L. V. Harcourt, Diaries G. Rose, II. 1. The ex-secretary for the Treasury.
1875. Poste, Gaius, II. (ed. 2), 206. The remedy of the ex-proprietor of the accessory is an in factum actio.
1884. A. Forbes, Chinese Gordon, ii. 48. Some were ex-mates of merchant-ships.
1891. Daily News, 16 March, 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.
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.’
1826. Bentham, 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.
1834. Medwin, Angler in Wales, II. 184. I have heard him [Byron] more than once tell of his rencontre with an ex-flogging Secretary at War.
1859. J. Lang, Wand. India, 413. A score of ex-Thuggee officers.
1887. Charity Organ. Rev., June, 254. One of our ex-boarded-out boys enlisted some three years ago.
1887. Pall Mall Gaz., 21 Sept., 12/1. The 6,000,000 dols. … is mainly made up of this ex-Russian capital. Ibid. (1890), 14 Jan., 2/2. Such nonsense…. It is unworthy of an ex-Liberal ex-Lord Chancellor.
c. From some of these combinations sbs. have occas. been formed by the addition of suffixes.
1793. W. Taylor, in Monthly Rev., XII. 82. Among the Prussian clergy, the alarm of ex-Jesuitism has nearly rendered orthodoxy disreputable.
1865. Morning 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.’
1809. Syd. Smith, in Edin. Rev., XIV. 44. He should recollect that his Methodists are the ex-party.
