Meaning of 'ex-' (Webster Dictionary)
- A prefix from the latin preposition, ex, akin to Gr. 'ex or 'ek
signifying out of, out, proceeding from. Hence, in composition, it
signifies out of, as, in exhale, exclude; off, from, or out. as in
exscind; beyond, as, in excess, exceed, excel; and sometimes has a
privative sense of without, as in exalbuminuos, exsanguinous. In some
words, it intensifies the meaning; in others, it has little affect on
the signification. It becomes ef- before f, as in effuse. The form e-
occurs instead of ex- before b, d, g, l, m, n, r, and v, as in
ebullient, emanate, enormous, etc. In words from the French it often
appears as es-, sometimes as s- or e-; as, escape, scape, elite. Ex-,
prefixed to names implying office, station, condition, denotes that the
person formerly held the office, or is out of the office or condition
now; as, ex-president, ex-governor, ex-mayor, ex-convict. The Greek
form 'ex becomes ex in English, as in exarch; 'ek becomes ec, as in
eccentric.
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