exegesis
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of exegesis
1610–20; < Greek exḗgēsis an interpretation, explanation, equivalent to ex- ex- 3 + ( h ) ēgē- (verbid stem of hēgeîsthai to guide) + -sis -sis
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Explanation
If your teacher gives an explanation of a difficult text you are reading, she is giving you an exegesis on it. An exegesis is a critical look at a text. Exegesis comes from the Greek word for interpret and it's often used in connection with the Bible. Often times, religious rules are based on an exegesis of a text. For instance, some Jewish people do not eat meat and dairy in the same meal based on an exegesis of a law in the Torah that says you should not eat a calf cooked in its mother's milk.
Vocabulary lists containing exegesis
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By turns comical and deeply affecting, “The Golden Boy” is heavy on back story, family history, Canadian history and geography, and on what Aristotle and friends would call exegesis.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
One of the inescapable conclusions that came from diving deep into the allure of originalism was the profound and uniquely American connection between theories of constitutional interpretation and methodologies of religious exegesis.
From Slate • May 8, 2024
First came Joel Thompson’s “To See the Sky,” obscurely subtitled “an exegesis for orchestra.”
From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2024
Although also woefully out of print, Mayo’s 1933 exegesis is, along with James M. Cain’s essay “Paradise” and Louis Adamic’s “Laughing in the Jungle,” among the great early studies of the city.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023
This is all quite fascinating, but over the next six pages the paragraphs jump around between descriptions of the Cossacks’ way of war and still more exegesis of Clausewitz.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
