eximious

English

Etymology

From Latin eximius (“set apart, select”), from eximō (“take out or away; deliver, free”), from ex (“out of, from”) + emō (“buy; acquire, take”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛɡˈzɪmɪəs/

Adjective

eximious (comparative more eximious, superlative most eximious)

1. (archaic) Pre-eminent, outstanding.
   • 1850, “The Hercules Cheap Paletot”, in Punch, volume 18, page 38:

     You've read the death of Hercules,
     In classic tale related;
     But there the facts of his decease
     Erroneously are stated:
     Each schoolboy will at large recite
     Fast as his Alphabeta,
     How that eximious man of might
     Departed on Mount Eta.

   • 2002, A.S. Byatt, A Whistling Woman, Vintage International, published 2004, page 115:

     Eximious is a delicious word, meaning, outstanding.

References

• eximious in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• “eximious”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “eximious”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.