Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “exaggerate” come from?

Exaggerate comes from Latin exaggeratus, the past participle of exaggerare, formed from ex- and ad-.

exaggerate (English): To overstate, to describe more than is fact

Definitions

  1. To overstate, to describe more than is fact

Ancestry of “exaggerate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinexaggeratusexaggerated
2Latinexaggerō—
3LatinaggeroI bear, carry, convey or bring to or towards a...
4Latinaggerrampart, bulwark; causeway, pier, dam, dyke
5Latinad-to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it...
6Latinīn-—
7Latinîn—
8Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
9Proto-Italicenin
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “exaggerate”

  • exaggerating
  • exaggerative
  • exaggerator
  • overexaggerate
  • exaggeratingly
  • exaggeratively
  • exaggeratory
  • exaggeratest
  • exaggerativeness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →