03-16-2004, 06:45 AM
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Confirmed User
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,494
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Quote:
Originally posted by 420
google is a better place to ask questions
What is the origin of ex as in ex-girlfriend?
Ex has several meanings and uses in English. It can mean "out", "upward" or, taken a step further, "thoroughly", as in exclude, extol, and excruciate, respectively. It can also mean "bring into a certain state", as in exacerbate. Further, it can mean "to remove, expel, or relieve from [something]", as in expatriate "to remove from one's native land", where ex- means "remove" and patri- means "native land". From that sense comes the meaning you reference, that of "former". It was originally applied only to offices formerly held (the earliest example, from 1398, is ex-consul), but by the mid-19th century we find ex-beau, and by 1876 we find ex-wife.
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LOL where would we be without google. |
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