exempl
Latinexample, sample, model
About This Root
The root exempl comes from Latin exemplum, and the picture behind it is wonderfully concrete: imagine a merchant reaching into a sack of grain and taking out a single handful to show a buyer. That handful is an exemplum — literally something 'taken out' (ex- 'out' + emere 'to take, to buy') so that it can stand for the whole.
This one image splits into two ideas that the whole family carries:
1. A sample that represents — 'here is one piece, and the rest are like it.' This is the everyday meaning of example: "Give me an example." You are asking for one instance pulled out of many.
2. A model worth copying — if the sample is good, the rest should be like it. So an example becomes something to imitate: "She set an example for the team." From this comes exemplary (adj.) = 'fit to be taken as a model,' praised behavior worth copying. (In law, exemplary damages are 'made an example of' — punishment meant to warn others, which is why exemplary can also mean 'severe as a warning.')
3. To illustrate or embody — exemplify (ex- + empl + -ify 'to make') = 'to make into an example.' It means both 'to show by giving an example' ("Let me exemplify this with a story") and 'to be a perfect example of' ("He exemplifies hard work").
A useful sibling: drop the head of example and you get sample — the very same Latin word, worn down through Old French (essample → sample). When a shop offers a free sample, you are getting a literal exemplum. The word exemplar (a model copy) is also a direct cousin.
One big trap to avoid: examination and examine look like they belong here, but they do not. They come from Latin examen — the little tongue or pointer of a balance scale (from exigere 'to weigh out, drive out'). To examine something was originally 'to weigh it,' to test its true value. Same ex- prefix, completely different stem (agere 'to drive,' not emere 'to take'). So when you 'take an examination,' you are being weighed, not taken out as a sample. This root, exempl, has nothing to do with tests.
The pattern to remember: every exempl word is about one thing pulled out to represent or to be imitated — a sample, an instance, a model.
Think of a merchant scooping one handful of grain out of a full sack to show you — that handful is an exemplum, a sample taken out to stand for the whole. Every exempl word is one thing pulled out to represent the rest: an example, or a model to copy. (And drop the 'ex-' and you literally get sample.)
Core Words Deep Dive
The few words from this family worth telling in full — one by one.
The everyday backbone of the family, and quietly two-faced. Sense 1 is 'a representative instance' (for example, give an example) — one thing pulled out to show what the rest are like. Sense 2 is 'a model to imitate' (set an example, lead by example, make an example of someone) — the same sample, but now held up as the standard to follow or a warning. Notice sample is just example with its head worn off — the same Latin word arriving by a rougher road through Old French.
ex- + empl + -ify ('to make') = 'to make into an example.' It runs in two directions: you can exemplify a point (actively give an example to illustrate it) or a person/thing can exemplify a quality (passively be a perfect example of it — 'her career exemplifies persistence'). The second use is the more common and the more vivid: to exemplify something is to embody it so completely that you could point at you and say 'that's what it looks like.'
From exemplum + -ary 'serving as.' The praise sense is dominant: exemplary conduct, an exemplary student = behavior so good it should be taken as the model. But it carries a darker legal sense too: exemplary damages / exemplary punishment = a penalty made an example of, designed to warn others off ('to make an example of someone'). Same root logic — something held up for everyone to look at — but once as a model to copy, once as a warning not to.
Related Roots
The hidden core of exempl is emere 'to take, to buy' — the same Latin verb behind em-/empt- words like exempt (taken out), redeem (buy back), prompt (taken forth) and premium. An exemplum is something 'taken out' to show; an exempt person is 'taken out' of an obligation.
form/forma also gives words for 'model/pattern': a model, a mold, something shaped to be copied. But exempl is a sample pulled from reality to represent the whole, while form is the abstract shape or template itself. Real instance you can point at → exempl; underlying shape/template → form.