The Latin preposition ex means out of, away from, or after (in time), and it becomes simply e when it is placed before a word which begins with a consonant. Extra is a Latin preposition which means outside of, beyond, or free from. All three became frequently used prefixes, often in hiding, in commonly used Latin words, and were subsequently adopted by the English. (Welcome to Manuscribit, in which English grammar is taught through Latin. It’s best to begin with the very first post and work your way through, with sketchbook in hand.)
educere: to lead away or draw out of educate, education
effeminare: to bring out the woman or make a women of effeminacy, effeminate
effervescare: to boil over effervescence, effervescent
effusum: poured out, to overflow effusive
eiectum: thrown out eject, ejection (As we shall see, the “i” frequently was changed to a “j” in English.)
elaborare: to work out, to take great pains to bring out elaborate, elaboration
electare: to choose, to coax out elect, election
eliminare: to carry outside eliminate, elimination
eludere: to ward off, to out maneuver elude
emanare: to flow out, to spring from emanate, emanation
emergere: to raise out emerge, emergence, emergent
eminere: to stand out eminence, eminent
emittere: to send out emission, emit
epistula: letter, message epistle
equus: horse equestrian, equine
errare: to wander away, go astray errant, erroneous, error
erumpere, eruptum: to break out, burst erupt, eruption
excedere: to go beyond, to advance exceed
excitare: to wake up, rouse, revive excite, excitement
excludere: to shut out exclude, exclusion
exhalare: to breathe out exhale
eximere, exemptum: to take out, removed exempt, exemption
expedire: to free or disentangle expediate, expedient
expendere: to pay out, to weigh out expend, expenditure, expense
exspirare: to emit, rush out expiration, expire
extendere: to stretch out extend, extension
exterminare: to drive out or banish exterminate
extraordinarius: special, beyond the ordinary extraordinary
extricare: to clear up extricate
Our next post will cover the letter “f”. In the meantime, check out my new Substack entitled Loquī through which you can learn and be loquacious in Latin! The next lesson will be posted shortly.
May God’s peace be with you until we meet again.