Where does “exacting” come from?
Exacting derives from Middle English -ing, attached to Latin exactus, the past participle of exigere meaning "to drive out" or "to demand," from Latin ago "to drive" and Proto-Indo-European h₂eǵ- "to drive or move."
exacting (English): Making excessive demands; difficult to satisfy;...
Definitions
- Making excessive demands; difficult to satisfy;...
Ancestry of “exacting”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | -ing | Used to form gerunds, a type of verbal nouns,... |
| 2 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 3 | Old English | -tūn | — |
| 4 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 7 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 8 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
Words derived from “exacting”