examen

See also: Examen

English

Etymology

From Latin exāmen (“the tongue of a balance, examination”), for exagmen, from exigere (“to weigh accurately, to treat”): compare French examen. See exact.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪɡˈzeɪ.mən/

Noun

examen (plural examens)

1. (obsolete) examination; inquiry
   • July 11, 1780, William Cowper, letter to the Rev. William Unwin

     For this reason I decline answering the question with which you concluded your last, and cannot persuade myself to enter into a critical examen of the two pieces upon Lord Mansfield's loss […]

References

• “examen”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• axemen

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin exāmen. Compare the inherited eixam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [əɡˈza.mən]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [eɡˈza.men]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

examen m (plural exàmens)

1. exam, test

   Synonym: examinació

Derived terms

• examinar

Further reading

• “examen”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “examen”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “examen” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “examen”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Dutch

Alternative forms

• eksamen (before 1996)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch examen, from Latin exāmen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛkˈsaː.mə(n)/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: exa‧men
• Rhymes: -aːmən

Noun

examen n (plural examens or examina, diminutive examentje n)

1. exam, examination, major test

Coordinate terms

• tentamen
• toets

Derived terms

• bevorderingsexamen
• eindexamen
• examencijfer
• examenkoorts
• examenuitslag
• examineren
• groootambtenaarsexamen
• kerstexamen
• paasexamen
• praktijkexamen
• rijexamen
• schoolexamen
• staatsexamen
• theorie-examen
• toelatingsexamen

Related terms

• examinator

Descendants

• → Indonesian: eksamen
• → Kwinti: exame
• → Papiamentu: èksamen

Further reading

• “examen” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin exāmen. Doublet of essaim.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛɡ.za.mɛ̃/, /eɡ.za.mɛ̃/ ~ /ɛɡ.za.mɛ̃/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Homophone: examens

Noun

examen m (plural examens)

1. examination, inspection, study, analysis

   examen des pièces à conviction ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   examen de conscience ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   mettre en examen ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   mise en examen ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. exam, test

   examen oral ― oral exam

   examen écrit ― written test

   examen blanc ― mock exam

   examen médical ― medical test

   examen d'admission, examen d'entrée ― entrance examination

Related terms

• examiner

Further reading

• “examen”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Etymology

From *exagmen, ex- (“out”) +‎ agō (“to drive”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix, indicating the means, instrument, or result of an action).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɛkˈsaː.mɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [eɡˈzaː.men]

Noun

exāmen n (genitive exāminis); third declension

1. swarm of bees; crowd

   examen apum

   A swarm of bees

2. tongue of a balance
3. a consideration, an examining

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	exāmen	exāmina
genitive	exāminis	exāminum
dative	exāminī	exāminibus
accusative	exāmen	exāmina
ablative	exāmine	exāminibus
vocative	exāmen	exāmina

Derived terms

• exāminō

Descendants

• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Corsican: insamina
  • Italian: sciame
  • Sicilian: sciamu
  • Venetan: same, samo
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: scuam
  • Romansh: sem, som
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Lombard: sam
  • Piedmontese: essam
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: eixam
  • Franco-Provençal: èssem
  • French: essaim
  • Occitan: eissam
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: xambre
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: eixame
    • Fala: enxami, enxemi, inxami
    • Galician: enxame
    • Portuguese: enxame
  • Old Leonese: enxame
    • Asturian: ensame, enxame
    • Leonese: enxame
    • Mirandese: anxame
  • Old Spanish: ensamne
    • Spanish: enjambre
      • → Northern Puebla Nahuatl: jambre
• Ancient borrowings:
  • → Albanian: shemë

Borrowings:

• → Asturian: esame, esamen
• → Catalan: examen
• → Danish: eksamen
• → English: examen
• → Estonian: eksam
• → French: examen
• → Friulian: esam
• → Galician: exame
• → German: Examen
• → Italian: esame
  • → Ido: esamo
• → Latvian: eksāmens
• → Middle Dutch: examen
  • Dutch: examen (see there for further descendants)
• → Norwegian: eksamen / eksamen
• → Polish: egzamin
  • → Lithuanian: egzaminas
• → Portuguese: exame
• → Romanian: examen
• → Romansh: examen
• → Russian: экзамен (ekzamen)
• → Spanish: examen
  • → Yogad: eksamen
• → Swedish: examen
• → Ukrainian: екзамен (ekzamen)
• → Venetan: exame

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “examen”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 3: D–F, page 257

Further reading

• “examen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “examen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "examen", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “examen”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “examen”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “examen”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin exāmen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [eɡˈza.men]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

examen n (plural examene)

1. exam, examination, test

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	examen	examenul	examene	examenele
genitive-dative	examen	examenului	examene	examenelor
vocative	examenule		examenelor

Further reading

• “examen”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Romansh

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin exāmen.

Noun

examen m (plural examens)

1. exam

Derived terms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader) examen final, (Puter) examen finel (“final exam”)
• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader) examen da qualificaziun, (Sutsilvan) examen da qualificaziùn (“aptitude test, test of ability, occupational test”)

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin exāmen. Compare the inherited doublet enjambre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɡˈsamen/ [eɣ̞ˈsa.mẽn]
• Rhymes: -amen
• Syllabification: e‧xa‧men

Noun

examen m (plural exámenes)

1. exam, examination, test

   Synonym: prueba

Derived terms

• examen de conciencia
• examen de conducir
• examen de opción múltiple
• examen tipo test

Related terms

• examinar

Further reading

• “examen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin exāmen.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

examen c

1. exam
2. graduation
3. degree

   Den sökande bör ha en examen i ekonomi

   The applicant should have a degree in economics.

Declension

Declension of examen

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	examen	examens
	definite	examen	examens
plural	indefinite	examina	examinas
	definite	examina	examinas

Synonyms

• (exam): examination

See also

• studenten
• tentamen