ex

¹ American  

[eks] / ɛks /

preposition

1. Finance. without, not including, or without the right to have.

   ex interest; ex rights.

2. Commerce. free of charges to the purchaser until the time of removal from a specified place or thing.

   ex ship; ex warehouse; ex elevator.

3. (in U.S. colleges and universities) from, but not graduated with, the class of.

   ex '47.

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ex ² American  

[eks] / ɛks /

noun

Informal.

1. a former spouse or a former partner in a long-term romantic relationship; ex-wife, ex-husband, or ex-lover.

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ex ³ American  

[eks] / ɛks /

noun

1. the letter X, x.

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ex ⁴ American  

[eks] / ɛks /

adjective

Slang.

1. excellent.

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EX ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Biology, Ecology. extinct.

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ex- ⁶ American  

1. a prefix meaning “out of,” “from,” and hence “utterly,” “thoroughly,” and sometimes meaning “not” or “without” or indicating a former title, status, etc.; freely used as an English formative: exstipulate; exterritorial; ex-president (former president); ex-member; ex-wife .

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ex- ⁷ American  

1. variant of exo-.

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ex- ⁸ American  

1. a prefix identical in meaning with ex- 1, occurring before vowels in words of Greek origin: exarch; exegesis .

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ex. ⁹ American  

abbreviation

1. examination.

2. examined.

3. example.

4. except.

5. exception.

6. exchange.

7. excursion.

8. executed.

9. executive.

10. express.

11. extra.

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Ex. ¹⁰ American  

abbreviation

Bible.

1. Exodus.

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ex- ¹ British  

prefix

1. out of; outside of; from

   exclosure

   exurbia

2. former

   ex-wife

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ex ² British  

/ ɛks /

preposition

1. finance not participating in; excluding; without

   ex bonus

   ex dividend

   ex rights

2. commerce without charge to the buyer until removed from

   ex quay

   ex ship

   ex works

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ex ³ British  

/ ɛks /

noun

1. informal (a person's) former wife, husband, etc

2. short for examination

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Ex. ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. Exodus

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ex- ⁵ British  

combining form

1. a variant of exo-

   exergonic

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Etymology

Origin of ex¹

First recorded in 1835–45; from Latin; ex- ¹

Origin of ex²

First recorded in 1820–30; by shortening

Origin of ex⁴

First recorded in 1920–25; by shortening

Origin of ex-⁶

< Latin, combining form of ex, ē (preposition) out (of ), from, beyond

Origin of ex-⁸

From Greek combining form of ex, ek, “out (of), from, beyond”; ec-, ex- ¹

Example Sentences

He used her phone to send a group text to Gonzales and seven members of his staff, identifying himself as Santos-Aviles’ “soon to be ex husband” and announcing the affair.

From Salon

You cannot be a bad person and have all the ex players you have had talk so positively about you.

From BBC

It rightly seems important to treat your children equally and not be pulled into a toxic relationship with your ex that you did not sign up for.

From MarketWatch

When the couple splits up, important tasks can fall through the cracks for the less-involved ex.

From Barron's

And then Norway kept winning enough golds to make everyone forget about him—like his ex.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• earlier
• past
• preceding